Happenings
by Lone19Wolf59
Summary: Stuff happens. People go through tragedy almost everyday. In the end, though, it somehow makes itself a little less heartbreaking, and stuff just keeps happening. Sorry I suck at summaries. Deciding between making it rated M but put M as the rating just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**This is only my second published fanfic EVER. So I'm hoping you enjoy and give me the confidence boost I need . Read and Review please!**

**I do not own anything unfortunately.**

Happenings

There she sat, and there she seemed to stay for the days that ensued... It had been five days since the warehouse explosion and Sykes' death. Almost everyone seemed to somehow fall back into their daily routines, only without the Warehouse of course. They were working from Leena's for the time being until they could figure out an alternative solution. Pete was still raising antics in everyone's life and trying to keep the weep and woe out of everyone's day. Unfortunately, even for the rambunctious Pete, they still felt the memories from five days before pressing against the front of their memory. Of course, no one felt the pain that Myka Bering felt from the first second.

Once the danger to Warehouse 13, or really the ashes of Warehouse 13, was no longer present the shackle's barrier fell and set its captives free. Pete and Artie had already begun sifting through the wreckage looking for anything salvageable. Myka on the other hand had merely stood rooted to the ground, eyes wound closed as tight as possible. She could still hear the flames and blasts flying around her on the other side of the now nonexistent barrier. She could still see the sorrowful face of someone she swore she'd look out for and protect from the darkness of the world. Helena was close to being completely healed of her difficult time before imprisonment. She was happy amongst her new 'family' and was back doing the kind of work she had always loved. While the thoughts of her deceased daughter Christina still crossed her mind every so often, she now had loving, though still slightly hesitant, friends who offered support. She seemed well on her way to a new happy life; there was just one thing that seemed to have been missing. Every so often Myka would catch Helena's gaze resting upon her with a longing look. Myka felt as though she understood that Helena was still missing one crucial piece of the puzzle that made up her life, and in giving her that longing look tried to silently reveal what it was she had been missing. Unfortunately, she had never been able to figure it out. Now, however, there was no point. All her weeks, months of hard work and dedication to her friend had been swept down the drain in the one event that proved she had actually changed and was willing to be a part of a team again, and there was no point. The warehouse agent failed to laugh at the irony. She did not wish to open her eyes for she knew the moment she did it would confirm her fears and she would breakdown into soul relinquishing cries that, once she was all cried out, would merely leave behind a shell of who she currently was. No, while she kept her eyes shut her friend was still standing in front of her with a smile, with that same longing look that had stumped Myka as the months had gone by.

"Myka?" Calloused hands snagged against the fine leather fibers draped loosely across Myka's shoulders. It was the sound of that thick friction, not the touch, thought roused her from her safe haven.

"Come on Myka. No matter how long you stand there and pretend it's not real it's not going to change the fact that it is. She's gone…" Those words…those quiet words confirmed the destruction of the last bit of hope the brunette agent had been holding on to. Her face fell into a crumpled frown and the tears spilled from beneath her lids. As she descended to her knees, it was as if the sudden shift in direction forced her eyelids to fly open and witness the damage Sykes had caused.

"Helena…" She whimpered. The cry was carried off by the wind in a slow sensual dance towards the skies where H.G. Wells now rested. Maybe it would reach her. Maybe she'd take pity and visit Myka's dreams. Pete's voice was acknowledge somewhere above her, and while he didn't seem to be speaking directly to her, Myka proceeded to tune him out. The metaphorical knife that ripped through her body and soul left the brunette clutching heavily at her chest. The air was leaving her body. She could see the fuzziness on the edges of her vision that weren't associated with the cyclone of tears that smeared her face.

"Myka! Hey Myka, are you okay!" Pete's tight grip caught her shoulder once again, almost shaking her. The pain was clogging her chest and airway. Her heart wasn't beating properly, and what beating it was doing, she'd concluded, was far worse than any pain she'd ever experienced in this lifetime.

"Artie, we need to get Myka back to Leena's." Suddenly, Myka's head swelled with flashbacks of Helena before, during, and after her long imprisonment. It hurt too much to think…to breathe…to live… As the last images of Helena and her standing before them on the outsides of safety crossed Myka's mind, her body slumped sideways into Artie's quick arms, hand hung limp against the scorched dirt.

Yes those first five days had taken much adjusting and many tears. Lives had been lost and a loved home was now gone. The team pushed themselves through the days and attempted to uncover a solution to the pile of ash they used to call home. Myka, however, has been laid out of her bed upstairs and there she stayed, even long after awakening. She wished not to eat or drink, only nibbling and sipping to sustain life. The bed had not once creaked under any type of movement unless Myka had left to use the restroom or bathe. Everything else was no existent to her. Myka had been the only agent he was unable to reach with rambunctious antics. He had attempted everything from meals to games to assignments. Nothing had stirred the brunette, and he knew he was silly for trying again.

"Mykes?" Cautiously sliding his head through the tiniest space between the bedroom door and its frame, Pete noticed that Myka was still huddled into a ball under the covers facing away from the door…exactly how he seemed to have left her the day before.

"Hey Myka, we're heading out on another assignment. Do you want in?" His enthusiasm was met with silence. Sighing he extended his arm fully away from his body and allowed himself in the room. Treading slowly, he rounded the bed frame and fell into a squat by the agent's face.

"Come on Myka, it's another artifact running loose in the world. Don't you want to help? They said it something from some dude called Ivan the Terrible or whatever. It's supposed to torture people. You love medieval type stuff like that don't you?" Pete tried his hardest to avoid the empty stare he only received due to his position blocking her initial view of the wall. Such black emptiness had never before existed in those eyes, and it unnerved him.

"Maybe while we're there maybe we could do some shopping. Do you think the castle has a gift shop? You think they'll have swords and stuff? Don't you want to travel back in ti…." His laughter fell immediately when Myka's muscles twitched causing the covers to fall just a fraction of an inch down her body. He noticed the worn edges of a book from Myka's personal collection. Sighing once more, he pushed himself up and patted his partner's arm.

"Sulking isn't going to do anything…" His eyes glanced down for just another second before he proceeded to leave the room entirely. The title _The Time Machine_ now repeated itself in his mind, and he most certainly didn't welcome the memories that came with it. The door clicked behind him. As he proceeded to rub the bridge of his nose a soft voice came from in front of him.

"How is she?" Leena's concern for her friends never went unnoticed. She cared deeply for each of them and worried greatly if submerged in any other emotion from happiness or something close to it. Her ability to see one's aura held her at a bold advantage.

"I think I liked her better asleep to be honest with you." Pete's unsteady hand brushed against the stubble on his cheek. In all the chaos and struggle he had yet to seem to find time for a good shave. Leena stared hard at Myka's door. Pete moved around her as though fixing to head downstairs but thought better of it when a thought crossed his mind.

"I don't get why she's still upset! We're all out here busting off our asses to get everything at least halfway put back together and she gets to stay in the bed and sulk over everything. It's been five days! She hasn't had anything to eat or drink as far as I can see, and she won't say anything to anyone!" The frustration in Pete gave off bad vibes for Leena. She quickly found herself taking a step or two back.

"Pete she just went through an emotional trauma! You can't expect her to just get over it."

"Why not? We're all doing just fine. Yeah Steve and H.G. are gone but we have to keep going or else their sacrifice was for nothing!" The innkeeper rolled her eyes.

"Are you really that blind! She grieving of the loss of her best friend Pete!"

"H.G. was my friend too, and you don't see my stuck in a corner watching the world stand still while hugging one of her books to me!"

"Of course not Pete! Even without my abilities I can see what's going on. How do you tell a person to move on when they just watched the person they love more than anything in the world sacrifice herself to save her?" Pete looked shocked.

"Love?" Really? Leena questioned. Pete really was a child.

"Yes Pete, love. I've never seen anything like it. When they were together it was almost like their life sources were feeding off of each other. When they were near each other I could see wisps of colorful threads connect them. I could stand by Myka and follow them all the way to Helena as long as she was in the immediate vicinity. It was so strong and pure." The child agent looked on thoughtfully.

"So what happed to her life source?"

"I still see it. In the past few days I've seen it around and hoped that maybe Helena was still alive. It wasn't until just now that I learned why I still saw it. That's why I came up here actually." Dangling in front of Pete's face was a thick classy locket that was unmistakable to place.

"Apparently with Helena's death the connection attached to the next closest thing, the one thing Helena's very heart rested in." Pete wanted to touch it but feared breaking the supposed connection Myka's life force had to it.

"Do you think it'll wake her up?"

"We'll see…" With that the two moved over to the bedroom door. Signaling Pete to remain in the hallway, Leena slipped in and tip-toed to the very same position Pete had been squatting moments before.

Pete watched silently through the crevice of the doorway. Leena dangled the locket as she had done with Pete, and he noticed the covers began to twitch. Myka slowly pulled herself up from the mattress and examined the pendant with her glossy eyes. It shined brilliantly in the afternoon's light, casting funny shadows onto the bed and walls. Myka ran an unsteady hand through waterfalls of rich chocolate cocoa mixes. Pete felt his stomach rumble at that. He smiled as Myka's hands slowly wrapped around the locket and pulled it close to her chest. The innkeeper's smile gave Pete the cue he needed to enter.

"Hey Mykes, look sorry about earlier. I'm just worried. I thought bringing you on another mission would put your mind on something else for a while." The agent looked up slowly to Pete. Her eyes showed just a tiny hint of a dull glow floating carelessly in empty space. There was a momentary silence to wonder if Myka was willing to respond this time around.

"How many swords are we planning to buy exactly?" A resounding cheer echoed throughout the Bed and Breakfast, startling its occupants. Pete laughed and flew down the stairs to start packing a second bag of supplies and equipment. Back in Myka's room, she just smiled sadly.

**Chapter 1 complete!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I realized I'd made several mistakes in dialogue thanks to a very helpful comment. This is chapter 2 with changes. I didn't want the case to seem to take up the whole story so I just went ahead and shortened it up. I know it doesn't seem to tie in with the rest of the story, but I'm trying to make it work. I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 2

"Okay Artie, we're here. Now are you going to tell us what we're here for, or do I have to make Pete go around asking for weird objects that make people do stupid stuff or die?" Myka huffed.

The plane ride to Moscow, Russia had been longer than either agent cared for. Usually the team would spend the hours talking away about the case or random issues in their lives all the while Myka clutched desperately to the arm of her chair. This time had been spent in complete silence with Pete's eyes set on satisfying his stomach and Myka's eyes kept staring into the clouds, her hand still clutching the arm rest. On several other missions, she realized, it had been Helena's hand that she sought comfort in. The brilliant British inventor had never spoken against it, simply taken up her hand and kept it close while rubbing calming strokes against her knee. Helena's absence was becoming more and more real.

Upon their arrival, as expected, Pete had managed to get himself lost. Myka had simply turned to pick up her bag, and by the time she could look back Pete was gone. Fortunately for the two of them the smell of food flooded the airport's air. After careful sniffing and searching, Myka had snatched her partner up by the ear and dragged him straight through security and out the door. Moscow's air had been quite stale flowing through the agents' noses, reflecting history's reign over Russia. The buildings stood bulky and intimidating with their ancient architecture and worn red, orange, pink, and yellow paint. All the windows showcased that same cramped oxygen depriving design, the ones with the sills you could just barely fit on comfortably. At least privacy would most definitely not seem to be an issue.

"Yes of course. There have been several new reports of death in the last few days…"

"Isn't there always?" Pete's mumbling had just barely reached Artie over the Farnsworth. Neither Artie nor Myka cared to respond to his rather depressing admittance.

"Anyway, it seems that there have been three victims. The witnesses report that the victims had suddenly started screaming in some type of fear or pain. After several minutes of attempting to subdue the victims, they'd died. The cause of death seemed to be a stabbing of some sort." Artie informed.

"So we're looking for a knife? Hell, I could've gone to my mother's kitchen for that." Pete commented dryly. Myka chuckled half-heartedly.

"As long as she doesn't toss one at your fingers, then I could see that happening. You have a bad habit of stealing food from her cabinets I hear." Pete tossed a glare in Myka's direction.

"Did she tell you that? Ugh, that's just like her too!" Pete cried out, arms swinging wildly in front of him imaging what he'd do to his mother if she wasn't his mother.

"Guys!" Artie's voice sounded over the Farnsworth. Bering and Lattimer silenced themselves. Artie was slightly terrifying when he was serious.

"No it's not a knife. The puncture wound in the victims' chests was approximately 3.5 inches in diameter." Artie continued.

"Who the hell has a knife that big!" Pete barked.

"It's not a knife Peter!" Pete jumped as Myka and Artie shouted in unison. Rolling her eyes, the brunette agent turned and stepped away from Pete.

"Okay but that still doesn't tell us why we're currently standing in Russia, the country with the bloodiest, most evil history according to the things I've read." Myka stated.

"Exactly. We have to go back in Russia's history to the Rurik Dynasty."

"The one with all the crazy people!" Pete had moved his head over Myka's shoulder in an attempt to remain part of the briefing.

"He really doesn't know much when it comes to history, does he?" Myka simply shook her head in response to her clearly annoyed boss.

"If I am correct, we are looking for a staff of sorts last belonging to Tsar Ivan IV."

"Ivan the Terrible?" Myka questioned.

"Yes. It belonged to the first Rurik ruler and was passed down all the way to Ivan, but seeing as to how his only 'fit' heir died, it ended its days with Ivan's death. It was supposed to be held in the vault units of one of the museums; however, when I called to check my suspicions, they realized it's missing." Artie added.

"So what does this one do? Make people scream at its ugliness then leave gaping holes in their chests?"

"Pete if you don't have anything intellectual to say then shut up." Both agents gulped. Apparently it was not a day to test Artie's patience by trying to 'lighten the mood.'

"Sorry…boss." Pete mumbled.

"Ivan was known for his rage and tortured and killed several thousands of people during his reign. Some reports were that he'd resort to drowning, beating, burning, cutting into their bodies, killing their families, and even driving a stake through their chest and standing it upright in his yard so they could bleed to death." Russia's air suddenly turned hostile and unwelcoming under Artie's words, causing the agents' skin to crawl with goose bumps.

"Supposedly the staff causes someone's most unbearable nightmares and fears to become a true reality that only they see. They're sent into shock, and when they fall they're suddenly left with a gaping hole in their chest." As Artie filled her in, Pete had flagged down a taxi and guided Myka and their bags to the backseat and trunk.

"Ah, well do we know how to stop it?" She asked.

"Not really, it was said that only the strong-minded could overcome its power."

"Basically facing and overcoming your fears is what can save you. Why am I suddenly getting flashbacks?"

"Yes well you'll want to start at the museum or possibly the Moscow Kremlin where Ivan resided during most of his reign, since all three incidences occurred on the intersection separating the two structures." Artie suggested.

"Okay boss we'll see what we can do."

"Don't call me boss. It makes me sound old." Artie bit back. Myka smiled.

"Sure thing Dad." Before a response could leave his lips, Myka shut the Farnsworth and looked over at Pete.

"Looks like those swords are more plausible than I thought. Let's go check in, and then we'll head over to the museum."

The Assambleya Nikitskaya Hotel had been grand in luxurious. It felt like the only modern piece of architecture in all of Russia. The service and staff had been nice and helpful in directions and translations for the non-Russian speakers. However, wherever there was something grand, there was always something better. The State Historical Museum had captivated Myka's eye. While Pete rushed in to find the nearest gift shop, Myka had to come to a standstill and admire the work. Its vast blood red stone walls grew to the skies almost towering over everything else. Behind her stood the Moscow Kremlin where great rulers and tsars had once resided like the Rurik and Romanov dynasties. It was something she had read about in her books, all the bloodshed and magical chaos that occurred behind its walls.

"Hey Mykes, are you coming or what!" Pete had poked his head out the entrance after realizing his partner had not followed him inside. Of course that had been after about fifth-teen minutes of searching the entire downstairs for anything selling cool toys, even if it were a small booth.

"Huh? Oh yea, yeah I'm coming." She finally found her footing and chased after her mentally prepubescent partner.

'Helena, if you could only see this. It's so amazing!' A small tear scrolled across her cheek only to be brushed away by trembling fingers.

It had been a long three days for agents Myka and Pete. The museum had mentioned the unusual absence of one of their employees who worked restoration in the vaults. They'd managed to find that same employee had visited the Moscow Kremlin several times in the days since the first murder. It'd taken three days to finally track down Joshua Taylors' hide out in the Kremlin's cellars, and that was including the breaks to shut-up Pete's voracious appetite. In that time frame, unfortunately, two more lives had been lost. Now they stood in those cellars gun pointed in every which direction. Joshua's stolen staff was raised above yet another victim ready to activate the artifacts deadly power. Pete's Tesla was pointed at Josh's partner Sam's head, with Sam's gun aimed at Myka, and her own Tesla aimed at Josh. They seemed to have to upper hand when arriving to find the hostage safe and Josh in utter disarray. His conscious was waning from him as it attempted to switch between reality and history, believing he was the descendant of the Rurik line and his victims had belonged to the Romanov line. Pete had moved in to apprehend him while Myka attempted to snatch the staff away, but their plan foiled at the last minute when Sam arrived. Myka had yet to figure out Sam's role in all the chaos.

"Josh, you don't have to do this. She's not who you think she is. The staff is making you hallucinate with dark power." Joshua's fingers twitched as Myka spoke. He was tempted to just bring the staff down upon the hostage and torment her life, Myka could tell, but something was holding him back.

"Shut-up, you don't know what you're talking about. She has to die so we can reclaim our rightful place. I going to kill her, and then they'll all be gone." The young woman sobbed vehemently under her captor's frustrated gaze. She didn't even know what was going on.

"No, she doesn't want your crown. If you let her go then she'll go away and never come back." Myka reasoned.

"Yes she will. She'll go get her army and bring them back to kill me and Sam. I can't let her go!"

"Then why don't we take her? We're the police, so if she's trying to take your place then we can take her into custody. She'll be kept away from everybody that way she can't send any armies." Josh's eyes flew towards her in silent questioning. They searched her own for any type of lie or reason to not believe her.

"You'd lock her up? Forever? And she'd never send an army?"

"That's right. We'll make sure she has no contact with anybody on the outside. If she does then we'll know and be able to stop it before it gets here." Pete stared hard at Myka wondering what kind of trick she had to apprehend him and Sam.

"I don't trust them Josh. They're lying." Sam countered.

"No! No…I'm not Josh. We'll even take you and Sam to a safe house until we get rid of all her spies." The two men shared a decisive glance and ever so slowly lowered their weapons. Myka pointed her Tesla to the ground and took small, quiet steps towards Josh.

"That's good Josh. Now give me the staff so we don't have to hurt anyone else." The staff trembled in the hands of its possessor as it moved through the air towards Myka. As she reached for it, the thumb on the hand holding Tesla moved over just a fraction of an inch to allow her index a little more room for fast reflexes.

"Josh look out! It's a trap!" Sam shouted. Everything occurred in a blur. Myka's hand flew up to fire at Josh as his eyes flashed with panic, and his arm soared upward to deal a deadly blow to the woman below. A gunshot echoed off the small walls behind her as she took a chance leap between Josh and t hostage.

"Myka!" There was another gunshot and suddenly Pete's voice could no longer be heard. She stretched her gun wielded arm out and tap the trigger. A flash of blinding light left the Tesla's tip and struck Joshua's torso. When Josh began falling to his knees the staff fell with. A single strike to the head was all Myka felt.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry guys that these chapters aren't turning out as good and action packed as I'd envisioned them. I think a part of that is coming from the fact that I just want to go ahead and bring H.G. Wells back like we already know I will. (Chapter 3 Revised version)**

Chapter 3

"Myka! Myka wake up!" Her partner's constant babbling had roused her from unconsciousness. The small light hung up in the cellar burned her eyes, causing the dull throb in the back of her skull to sharpen and intensify.

"Damn it." She swore rose to her feet. Pete kept a hold of her as she attempted to find her balance.

"You okay? You were struck by the staff. Do you see anything scary?" Rurik's scepter was jammed carelessly into Pete's with its crown jewel safely disposed of inside the neutralizing bags. Looking around at the suddenly small area it was discovered both Josh and Sam had escaped.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You managed to get a hold of the staff before it had any real effect on me I suppose. What about Josh and Sam!" Myka asked hastily.

"You've haven't been out that long. After you were hit the hostage took off. I put the jewel in the bag and thought it wouldn't be safe to leave the stick. Josh and Sam ran out the door when I woke you up." Rubbing her fingers over the small knot forming under her skin, Myka grunted in slight irritation and rushed out after the men. They'd just rounded a turn when the agents caught glimpse of them.

"Joshua!" Cursing her heels, the brunette took the corner and leapt at the figure closest to her. Arms and legs became an entangled mess. Myka yanked back Sam's blonde hair.

Pete stood over the two wrestling figures waiting for a clear shot at Sam. Sam was easily six inches taller than Myka and much larger as far as muscle mass was concerned. Within another second his elbow cocked back into the agent's nose. As her head flew back her fingers caught in the seams of Sam's pockets. A distinct ripping of fabric distracted Pete long enough for Sam to swing back and knock away his Tesla. On a moment of bad vibes and gut instinct, Pete tackled the football sized player into the wall, arms flailing wildly. From his side view came a heavy thud that fogged his vision and sent him falling to the floor.

"Bye bye suckers!" Sam laughed out and took off through the maze of corridors after his lead man.

"Ah shit that hurt…" Pete gritted through his teeth.

"Tell me about it…" Myka added and collected herself and tilted her head back to contain the blood oozing from her nostrils. The definite bruising could already be seen covering the bridge and upper lip.

"When are we ever going to get a mission that doesn't involve damaging some part of my face?" Pete asked. Dust fluffed musty cellar air as Pete rolled over and stood up. A slight kinking resonated from his shoulder and neck from the fall he had taken.

"At least you don't have a nose bleed." Myka countered.

"Where do you think they went?" Pete wondered aloud. Hands rustled against layers of fabric to remove dirt and dust from the floor. Pete snorted at Myka's cursing. She let her head fall forward and pinched her nose slightly.

"Damnit! I don't know maybe they…" Her breath caught in her throat like a set of large bare hands had wrung themselves around her neck. It was impossible to avoid the small tiniest speck of light that shone through the chaotic darkness in her eyes. Ignoring the blood seeping out of her nose and on to her blouse, Myka's unsteady hands lowered themselves toward the ground with movement that feared to touch the sand.

"What's wrong?" His partner had yet to finish voicing her opinion, something he'd learned long ago she was good at. When he turned to find her knelt in the dirt worry caught the best of them. Approaching her with hastened steps, a soft gleam reflected off a tiny surface area of the floor. His eyes glanced away to relieve themselves of the nearly blinding flashes.

"Pete, this is…" Myka stood with a small object cradled in the palm of her purple gloved hand. It wasn't a perfect circle as the edges were slightly dull and jagged but its identity was undeniable.

"This is…" Myka tried again.

"…the Janus Coin." Pete spoke the words Myka dared not to. It almost seemed too unreal. An artifact directly connected to her heart was suddenly staring her dead in the face as though it'd always been there. The agent's mind filled with those memories of her lost friend once again.

"Helena…" The moment could not be stopped.

She'd spent the entire mission driving anything evenly remotely related to Helena away to the deepest reaches of the infinite halls that tracked her mind. Door after door had to be closed, locked, and key thrown away in order to maintain professionalism and move forward. Now that a solid piece of Helena was sitting in the palm of her hand, she couldn't deny the ache that infiltrated her heart. It was like a category five hurricane ripping through her very soul leaving not even dust in its wake. Each time the memories came the pain became a physical one that left her silently begging to die. She wanted greatly for the pain to stop but knew in the end it would only end by erasing H.G. Wells from her very soul, something she would never be willing to do because Helena was a part of her she needed more than to live.

Pete felt the anger rising inside of him. It wasn't anger at anyone in particular, simply anger at everything that'd happened. In a week's time he'd lost a home, a could-be friend, a fellow agent friend, and a best friend. Myka hadn't been the same since the explosion. He'd witnessed that during her zombie like state back at Leena's, but this time he knew it was true. Myka Bering had lost the spark of enthusiasm that radiated from her during each and every case. The loss of Helena had turned Warehouse work in an actual JOB. His arms wove around her shoulders and pulled her tight against his chest. Nether of them really know what to do or how to act about the appearance of the Janus Coin. One part wanted to know why Josh and Sam had had hold of the coin that was last seen being handed over to Steve in the forest for Sykes. The other part hoped it indicated the possibility of H.G.'s survival or revival if nothing else. Was this coin even the one which contained Helena's consciousness? The question crossed Pete's mind and with it a very bad vibe. Sifting through the backpack tossed on the floor, Pete pulled out his Farnsworth to make a call.

"Hey Claudia."

"Pete, my man, how's the mission coming along?" The red-haired woman smiled wickedly through the screen.

"Well, we got the artifact…and something else."

"Ooh, tell me more." Trying not to disturb his now silent friend, Pete slid the coin from Myka's palm and flashed it in front of the Farnsworth.

"We found this after it fell out of one of the bad guys' pockets."

"Oh my God, is that what I think it is!" Claudia jumped up from her chair and the background whizzed by the camera as she rushed to get to her computer.

"Yep and I need to know if there is more than one Janus Coin." The insanely loud 'click, click, click' of the home bound agent's computer keyboard took up the small hallway Pete and Myka sat in.

"Well no but…." Claudia started.

"So this may not be it?" Pete interrupted.

"Yes but Pete the one the Regent's had was the only one ever found." Small whimpering came from Pete's right. His face contorted with slight malice.

"But there's a chance it's not…" Pete assured.

"Based on the sound of Myka crying I hope for Myka's sake that it is." Pete let out a frustrated sigh. He knew the coin would give her hope and for that he was happy, but what if in the end it turned out to be false hope? He didn't need that, and more importantly Myka didn't need that. They were partners and he wasn't about to let some stupid coin tear her broken heart into smaller pieces.

"I really don't know what's good for her right now. We're coming home. Don't tell Artie about it though. If this could be the same coin then I think we need to look a little bit into why two psychos have what was last in the hands of the guy who caused all of this to begin with."

"I must say I'm going to write that down on Pete's List of Smart Things He Said."

"Just go start doing some snooping." Pete ordered.

"I've never been asked to break the rules. This is thrilling." Refusing to comment, Pete slammed the cover closed and turned back to Myka. The brunette's eyes were down casted to the spot from which he had taken the coin. He placed it firmly back in her hands and closed them tight.

"Come on Mykes. Let's get you home."

The plane ride back seemed even longer than the one up. Pete realized for once in his life he wasn't hungry nor did he care to watch silly cartoons or play video games of any sort. His excellent façade was slipping away from him, and he wondered how much longer he could hold on. The entire team was treading on thin ice and one wrong step would send every one of them to their end. Suddenly the memories of the day of the explosion took over his mind. It seemed moving forward would be much more difficult than he'd originally hoped.

Myka stirred as the light from behind closed curtains spilled through cracks and crevices into her eyes. It'd been fair too late when she and Pete arrived home from Russia. They'd been let in by a groggy Leena in a bedroom robe and tousled hair. Claudia lay sprawled over the back of the den's couch and cushions. One leg was thrown over the back with the other rested on the arm at the bend of the knee. Her hair was extremely disheveled with an arm clutching a closed laptop and the other hand brushing the floor. Pete had laughed and, though with tiredness creeping into him, ran to the kitchen to grab some prankster magic.

"I tried getting her to go to bed, but she was insistent on finishing some research for you two." Leena whispered gently. Myka had merely smiled through the sleepiness and sorrow. It was rare to find a peaceful moment among chaos.

"Could I make you something to eat or drink before bed? I'm sure that plane food wasn't too appetizing." The innkeeper offered.

"No, go ahead on to bed Leena. From the sounds of it Pete found his snacks, and I'm not hungry. I'll just head up to bed and try to get some rest." Myka thanked.

"Of course, good night." Leena had left for the stairs a tad more quickly than she'd probably meant. Myka had gone to make sure Pete wasn't eating them out of house and home before following after the innkeeper.

She'd never found herself a morning person and was never easily woken in the mornings unless by her trusted alarm clock. The uneasiness of the past few days had her sleeping with one eye open at all times. Glancing at her clock, she realized it was only eight in the morning, on her day off no less. There was nothing more that she'd rather have done then to curl up in a small ball and watch the world fade away as she dosed back off into a perfect dream. Unfortunately, the intense smell of pancakes and syrup slapped her sore nose. If she didn't get up soon someone would arrive to drag her from bed. Sighing, she rose, allowing the white comforter to fall off her body, with a stretch. A gentle clink and cold metal shocked Myka who reached for her sidearm on reflex. She reached into her shirt to find Helena's locket hanging from a tangled chain. With a few strokes of her fingers, the chain was free from further destruction. It was slow moving from the bed to the joining bathroom. In half an hour she'd showered and dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a white button down. After combing and touch flat ironing her hair and fixing a light foundation on her cheeks, she descended the stairs into the dining area.

"Good morning Myka! How are you?" Leena's excited gaze stunned the brunette momentarily. For some odd reason it was way too early to be all cheery happiness that early in the morning. She took a seat beside Claudia and Pete whose faces were stuffed with forkfuls of pancakes and bacon bits.

"Oof mmmnig…" Pete was the first to speak, even with a mouthful...

"mmnig" And Claudia was quick to follow.

"You both know you look and sound like pigs right now, right?" The greedy agents paused in mid-fork and glanced at each other before slowly setting down their forks and swallowing what was already in their mouths with a sheepish smile.

"Their appetities must be running high. I haven't seen them eat like this since the whole incident with the Minoan….Oops…" Myka smiled sadly and shook her head, shaking off the slip up. Silently sulking in the guilt, Leena excused herself to the kitchen. Just as she left Pete leaned closer to Myka with elbows pressed heavy against the table.

"So did you happen to find anything out last night with Sam and Josh?" Pete asked in full seriousness. The red-head turned her back to the kitchen entrance.

"I did a little snooping like you said and apparently Josh and Sam lived on the same street as Sykes. I don't know if that makes them friends or business partners but there stand a likely chance that they at least were acquainted with each other." Myka hadn't forgotten their findings from the day before. It had come as a major shock to the agent, but with that shock there came a small tinge of hope. If not hope to fix the mess that'd been made then hope for revenge of some sort.

"Okay so what, Josh and Sam are picking up where their buddy left off? I mean how else do we explain them having the Janus Coin?"

"Can you excuse me?" The chair screeched across the floor as Myka jumped up from her seat. She moved towards the door.

There was only one place she could really go where her fumbling thoughts of Helena didn't contract around every vital organ in her body. The library had been their solitude. Only they ever resided within its silent walls of knowledge. Helena and Myka had spent hours on their days off sitting in the silence of each other's company trapped in separate worlds of fantasy. Pete and Claudia had paused in the middle of their conversation to watch Myka's figure slump back down into its depression as she exited the room. Myka's mind was elsewhere when she realized she was suddenly walking back into the dining room. Chunky fingers gripped tightly in her skin, keeping her from wandering off any farther.

"I'm afraid you can't be excused. We have a big problem." Artie stated. Leena's curiosity won the best of her as she found herself standing in the doorway quietly wiping the soap and water off of her hands. A sharp clank echoed in the room when Pete's fork crashed on the plate still half full of pancakes.

"Not another psycho maniac obsessed with more artifacts. If they keep this up I just might quit my job."

"I'm afraid it's much more serious than that." The dark sullen look in Artie's eyes caused the hairs on everyone's neck to stand up.

"Sykes is still alive."


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay guys, this chapter is longer than the first three. I think I did a whole lot better this time around since I decided to slow down and think things out. I still don't own anything. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

'_If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.'_

Those were the words replaying themselves in Myka's mind as she stared at the fine cursive handwriting on the front page of her favorite book. Helena had written in the words as she had been browsing through Myka's books. When the brunette had found the print she'd only laughed and pressed it close against her heart. At the time they'd been inspirational words that kept her getting up every morning regardless of Helena's situation from the Minoan trident incident to the time she'd been imprisoned in conscious limbo. These days, however, they were a torturous reminder of what she'd lost. How could she stand up anymore without her reason? Her crutch? Her eyes clouded in painful darkness as the thought of living suddenly became a loathed chore. The woman she'd come to admire – no scratch that – love, she'd finally realized, had sacrificed her very life for her and their friends. She'd stood on the other side of the barrier with a sad smile on her face and crystal tears collecting on the rims of her eyes. Now though…all of that was for nothing, absolutely nothing.

Artie's last words were finally registering in her mind. The monster responsible for everything was alive. The psycho was alive and well while she suffered because of the consequences of his actions. He probably didn't even care that he'd blown up a federal building and killed one of its agents. What the hell was she thinking! Of course he didn't care otherwise she'd be sitting in the library leaned against the British agent as she was read to. If he'd have cared she would've been spared the endless nights of driving out to the site of the now flattened warehouse alone just to cry and scream to the stars with sorrow and rage. Was it anger at Sykes for what he had done? Was it anger at Helena for being so careless and stupid? Or maybe it was anger at herself for not having the capability to handle anything anymore, not having the ability or will to pick up the pieces and move forward. Whatever the case, the two words 'Sykes' and 'alive' ignited a new kind of anger in her. It was the kind of anger that only worsened at the thought of the root of her problems. It was a craving, a desire, an actual need to release the anger. It was revenge.

"….still haven't answered my question! What do you mean Sykes is still alive!" Pete and Artie entered the den of the make-shift conference room within Leena's bed and breakfast. Sometime along Myka's thought process Claudia had also entered and taken up a seat across from the brunette. Pete slammed his fist down on the table in response to Artie's continuous silence causing Myka to jump in surprise and scan the room wildly with her eyes. The short curly-haired, man looked back with stern eyes.

"Take a seat Agent Latimer. We have things to go over." Pete looked hesitantly at Artie before slowly shifting hs figure sideways and into the nearest chair. The room regained its silence for just another second as Artie gathered himself and his thoughts on the not so new issue.

"Yes Pete, Sykes is still alive. It seems that when you turned off the door between Hong Kong and the Warehouse with Sykes still passing through, instead of causing him to disintegrate into particles as we had originally believed, it created a sort of wormhole transporter and sent him to a different area of the globe." The young hacker across from Myka raised her hand with that intense intellectual glint in her eyes.

"Yes Claudia since you seem so intent on interrupting all of my briefings." Claudia hid a small snide smile.

"I thought sudden rips in space like that were sketchy. You could be transported anywhere in the space continuum."

"Yes well it seems Sykes is just that lucky of a man. Now, someone broke into the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. while Pete and Myka were away in Russia."

"How the Hell do you break into a library? Let me guess walk through the back door? Did he steal the librarian's tip?" The team looked over at Pete with the same stern eyes Artie had just given him upon entering.

"What! I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"You were the one trying to beat answers out of Artie just a minute ago," Claudia bit back.

"AN-NY-WAYS!" The sudden disturbance from Myka Bering stunned the arguing agents. For a second nobody dared to move in the hopes she would do it again. It would be a sure improvement from the previous days.

"Can we please get back to the matter at hand! If I hear one more sound out of either of you before Artie finishes explaining to us what the Hell is going on, I will drag you both by the hair on your head to the attic and string you up by your toes and leave you there until I feel you've grown up enough to handle complex situations such as the one we are currently dealing with. Do I make myself clear!" Everyone was shocked by the sudden outburst. It seemed the constant emotional roller coaster was leaving Myka in charge of the day's operations until she came down off of her high. When neither agent responded she shot up from her chair and slammed her fists on the table.

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!"

"YES MA'AM!" Claudia and Pete returned to their respective seats staring at their twiddling thumbs. Myka too lowered herself into the seat.

"…*cough*…yes, thank you Myka for…uh…yes thank you." She didn't respond, only returned to staring at the words on the front page of her favorite book.

"The restrictive storage section was broken in to two nights ago. The government doesn't know why or what was stolen so the Regents sent in some of our own."

"There are Artifacts in the Library of Congress? I thought everything obtained was being held in the warehouse."

"As far as Artifacts went, yes we had most of them. However, things such as records or books or anything else that is not an Artifact but related to our work was kept in places like the Library of Congress. Our men discovered that something was in fact stolen from a secure Regent vault hidden in the restrictive section." Artie pulled a manila folder out of his briefcase. The word classified decorated the front and back of the folder.

"This is what was stolen." He scattered various images across the surface of the table. Myka took one up and eyed it carefully. The image looked vaguely familiar, connecting it to a book she'd read many years back.

"Hey…these are not what I think they are, are they?" Artie looked over the top of his spectacles and eyed his female agent cautiously.

"And what exactly are 'these?'" Agent Latimer's question remained floating in the air as Myka observed the rest of the photos, including the ones of paintings and hieroglyphs.

"No way, I read about them once but it was such a controversial topic that I assumed it was just a story like everything else. I guess I should have known better considering where I work…" Myka's voice trailed for a moment.

"Uh hello? Care to fill us in on what we're looking at?"

"This is a book containing the diary of Alexander the Great."

"As in big dude with nice hair, big muscles, charming personality, and the best war general like ever?" Claudia's eyes moved back and forth between Artie and Myka waiting for confirmation.

"Yes him. This book contains almost everything about his life since his first days of being a pupil under Aristotle from what he did everyday to a recording of all the letters he ever wrote or received. Of course, as you can obviously see, he had more than one book." Artie continued to splay images across the table of different pieces of text written in the books.

"Aren't government buildings like the Library of Congress supposed to have security cameras and other cool gadgets to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen?" Pete's confusion caused an odd to stir inside Myka. Apparently her gut didn't like where this conversation was headed.

"It seems the government believes there is a bug in the system, and Sykes is using that bug to get everything he wants."

"Now this creep has bugs working for him? I think he's officially gone cuckoo. I mean how do you even get bugs to work for you?" The young hacker perched beside Latimer let her face fall forward into the palm of her hand at Pete's comments. With one quick flick of her wrist, a resonating thud bounced off of the back of Pete's head.

"Oww! What the Hell did you do that for!"

"He means there is a leak in the government nimrod! Somebody is playing a double-faced card and giving Sykes all the information he wants."

"I knew that." A failed casual laugh was enough to silence the still slightly confused agent.

"But in order to have access to this type of material in information, much less know about it and the warehouse, the bug has to be pretty high up in political ranks. Most of our government branches don't even know the Warehouse exists. That rules out almost everyone. Besides…" Myka turned fully in Artie's direction. The boss noticed something in his agent's eyes that he couldn't quite place…confusion? Fear? Anger? Or something much worse? "…if we know the government knows nothing about the Warehouse, why do they believe they have a leak?" Artie's eyes focused back on another folder that had at some point produced itself in his hands.

"Well it may be a little bit more than a double-faced card, you see? It was confirmed that somebody hacked into the Pentagon last night…" The shock that entered the room left everyone's face frozen with wide eyes and mouths agape. Claudia seemed to be the most stunned out of the bunch.

"Are you freaking kidding me! Even with my skills it took five years of scanning and processing to…" The sudden movement of Artie's neck to look Claudia dead in the eyes halted the red-head in her tracks. She swallowed slowly and carefully rearranged her words. "…*cough, cough*…um anyway…for any normal person, normal being anybody but me, it would take fifth-teen to twenty years just to get through all of their firewalls and security features. I'm sure they have millions of copied fakes floating in their hard drive which means the hacker would be sifting through phony information forever."

"But if it's an insider, why would they need to hack in? Why not just take it directly from the hard drive."

"My guess? They probably have a system that requires I.D. when information is accessed. I'm sure that whenever a file is opened that particular file records a list of time stamps indicating when it was opened and who opened it. The neat thing is that there is no way to delete the time stamps. Whoever was after the stolen information probably knew he/she wasn't cleared to access it, and if he/she was caught it would mean big trouble." Myka leaned over the table top with an enlightened look on her face.

"So the information was only allowed to be accessed by somebody with high rankings. He had no choice but to hack in to protect his identity." Positioned on either side of the two conversing women, Artie and Pete looked at each other.

"It's a chick thing." Pete mouthed. Artie simply nodded and rubbed the smudges off of his spectacles.

"When you ladies are done, us men would gladly care to share our inputs in the matter, yes?" Still reveling at the amount of information Claudia and herself were able to infer about the issue left Myka in silent thought with no regard for either man.

"Hey guys, what if this _is_ just somebody playing a double-faced card? It could've been somebody that works for the Pentagon and met Sykes. Sykes tells him about the warehouse and convinces him to help. The guy works for the Pentagon so he probably knows all the little code thingy's to get past their security and stuff, so Sykes told him to get some information." Artie thought for a moment before a look of nostalgia passed over him momentarily as he thought back to something he was once told.

"It's a file! There's a file kept by the Regent's on a separate drive from the Pentagon's main hard drive. It technically belongs to the Pentagon, but nobody has the authority to access it besides the Regent's. It contains everything about the Warehouse from its beginnings in Warehouse 1 to today's current agents: Pete, Myka, Claudia, Leena, me…Steve…H.G…." Claudia and Myka stared down at their hands. The names of the agents who gave up their own lives to save the rest of theirs still held a pain that wasn't yet ready to be faced by either woman.

"Using this hard drive, Sykes' handy man could in fact have just worked for the Pentagon and learned of the Warehouse by listening to Sykes and reading the files." Pete attempted to lighten the now dark tension being absorbed into the air.

"So what other information did Sykes get?" Artie smiled at Pete's attempt.

"He took information regarding the believed whereabouts of the tomb of Alexander the Great." The wheels in Myka and Artie's minds were turning so quickly and loudly Claudia nearly believed she'd been transported to a clock tower. Their faces darkened with troublesome worry. Across the room Leena placed a plate of finger food in front of Pete who'd only been able to connect the bare minimum of dots.

"Okay so the dude likes Alexander the Great. What exactly is he after here?" Myka and Artie exchanged several more troublesome looks before finally facing the other agents.

"There's only one thing I can think of that would draw this much attention out of Sykes."An image much smaller than the others was passed around the table bearing the ancient writings Alexander would have used in his diary.

"That specific page was written during the last months of Alexander's life. In it he talks a lot about his time as general and all the battles he fought. It's a very detailed entry and would probably shed light on various events during his tyranny across the Asia Minor; however it's the last sentence that concerns me." In one swift motion Myka snatched the paper from Pete's unsuspecting fingers. Her eyes flicked across the image, taking in the jumbled foreign letters that weren't so new to her.

"Never would I have succeeded if not for my beloved sword…" Her voice trailed in deep thought.

"…beloved sword? Sykes is after Alexander the Great's sword? I didn't even know he had a sword…"

"Nobody does…it was uncovered during the creation of Warehouse 1, but they decided to leave it wherever they found it because they feared removing it would draw attention and set its power free. They spent years studying carefully to learn more about it but could only get so far without removing it." Before any of the agents realized what had occurred all they could hear was the heavy '_thud, thud, thud_' trailing behind Myka's retreating form up the stairs.

"What's her problem?" Pete asked, finger pointed towards the empty doorway. Claudia and Artie simply shrugged and turned back to look when the thudding boot steps grew louder as Myka returned to them.

"Here it is! I read this a long time ago." In the brunette's hand was a worn, rugged book. Tear marks littered its autumn colored spine, barely able to keep it together as indicated by heavy packaging tape woven around the cover and spine. No writing was etched into the books outer shell. The rest of the Warehouse team gathered around to exam the book along with the nervous agent. Her delicate fingers pulled back the pages one at a time to ensure they wouldn't snag and rip.

"Back when I was still in college I found this book during a trip I took to the Library of Congress. I'm glad Sykes didn't get his hands on it. I found the book and asked one of the 'librarians' who it was written by because a name is not actually given in this book. I was told they didn't even have a record of it on file and said someone must have left it behind." Artie's eyes filled with so much curiosity and eagerness, Myka nearly tore one of the pages as it radiated off him into her.

"So they let you keep it?" Claudia asked with mock surprise.

"Well, sort of. She told me that I could but not to tell anyone." The final page was turned before the agent bent close to the book, reading glasses pushed to the top of her nose. They sat in silence as Myka read over each page, any of them only making out various fragmented sentences mentioning Alexander the Great.

"Yes it's just as I thought…"

"What is!" Came Artie's not so subtle reply.

"Whoever wrote this book knew about the sword, and apparently he/she knew a lot more than he/she should have. This book goes into vivid detail of its appearance. It basically says Alexander's sword was made unlike any other. The blade was nothing more than molded glass, and then it was glazed over with several thousand layers of steel and iron. According to the book, Alexander was the only person able to pick it up, and it was as long as his own arm."

"How do you make a sword out of glass? Wouldn't that be a little bit useless?"

"The author believes it was made with dark magic." Claudia raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"You mean bad juju?" Pete reached over and snapped the book shut, causing Myka to yelp and cradle the book carefully making sure no damage had been done.

"OK, so even if Sykes finds it, he can't pick it up, no problem. Our only objective is to capture him and ki….I mean hand him over to the Regent's, right? It's simple."

"No Peter! Not simple! The Regent's of Warehouse 1 believed the sword to hold dark magic. Towards the end of Alexander's days he began to become mentally disturbed with paranoia and delusions and hallucinations. They believe the reason he was such a good general was because of this sword. According to their texts, this sword is thought to be able to allow the wielder to control massive amounts of people, such as an army, and use them to do whatever he/she pleases." Myka returned to her set point in the book.

"Yeah, it says here his charisma actually originated from the sword which allowed him to create heavily loyal soldiers who would fight till their very last breath. They would do anything he said. If Sykes gets his hands on this he could very well turn the world on its self. He's not planning revenge on us…"

"He's planning revenge on the world, a world he blames for him being bound to a wheel chair all his life."

"Uh guys, hello! Didn't you just say only Alexander could wield it? We don't have any problems." Artie looked, again, over his spectacles towards the impatient agent.

"He may not be able to wield it, but I can think of some people who probably can…" It was Myka's turn to look curiously. Artie moved back from the table and removed a folded parchment from his briefcase. Unraveling it on the tabletop, he pointed to a tiny red dot on the right side of the map.

"This red dot represents the North-Western area of modern day Pakistan known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Within this province is the Chitral District which sits on top of some of the most mountainous terrain in the middle-east. It's in these valleys that the Kalash people reside in peace from the outside world."

"So they don't like people and moved somewhere they could be alone, big deal! What does this have to do with the Sykes case?" Myka rummaged through Artie's things and pulled out several other pictures of middle-eastern children dressed in colorful attire.

"Not to be alone…these mountains were chosen for protection. The Kalash are said to house the only living descendants of Alexander and his army." Returning to the table, pictures in hand, Myka splayed them across the surface over the numerous others followed by several paintings of Alexander and images of ancient Greeks.

"See the resemblance? It's possible that Alexander's descendants can wield the sword. Now that Sykes has the book and the Pentagon's files, he knows where to go. After that he'll go looking for the sword and force the new wielder into dragging this world to Hell." Pete stared confused and speechless at the startling turn of events. He looked at Claudia who hadn't said much throughout the ongoing history lesson. She was always better with the new, not the old.

"Okay so what do we do? He got the information last night which means we're lucky if he hasn't left the Kalash villages by now. He's probably well on his way to Alexander's tomb, wherever the Hell that is. So he's already a good five or six steps ahead of us. There's no way we'll catch him!" Myka's eyes fluttered with deadly fire. She rounded the conference table in such a terrifying manner Pete soon found himself pressed against the wall.

"Now you listen, and you listen well. Too many people have died because of this psycho's obsessions. He's killed innocent people! He killed our people! I will not sit back and let that damn fool kill more people just because you don't feel like we can get ahead of the game. I will find this son-of-a-bitch and stop him from hurting more people for Steve's sake and Helena's sake. Now, I want you to march your whiny ass upstairs and pack your bags right this instant! We're going to Pakistan!" Not daring to argue back, especially with her new taste in language, Pete only nodded with fear and slid past his partner and shot out the door and up the stairs. A small snicker distracted Myka; she turned to the young red-headed hacker laughing into the palm of her hand.

"And what the Hell are you laughing at! You're coming too! GO!" With no questions, Claudia scurried after Pete. Artie sighed and gently grasped his agent's shoulder.

"Myka, this isn't about revenge. You have to understand that. If you let your emotions get in the way of this you will make a mistake you'll regret later on." The brunette gathered the things from the table into a neat stack before taking the book up into her arms. She looked over at her boss before leaving.

"I don't care what happens to that sick bastard. As long as he pays for what he's done…" With that she turned and stormed up to her room to pack. Artie could only watch and wondered whether or not he was making a good call by allowing Myka to go.

Myka barged into her own room, throwing the door back against its frame. The anger she felt in that instant was unbearable and slightly terrifying to her inner self. Her mind was still desperately reeling at the idea that the monster could even still be alive. Her skin felt scorching hot, and she felt her blood fall through her with every heavy beat against her ribcage. Her heart pounded so hard it created a painful thud each time it hit her chest. Her feet circled the room at the foot of the bed for several long minutes as she attempted to cool down and arrive at tolerable terms in the situation. Unable to find her happy place any longer, however, she flew to the opposite wall of the bedroom and swiped her arms across the desk, tossing all its contents to the floor. The crash settled her for just a moment before the boiling rage returned stronger than ever. She wanted to shoot someone or maybe even kill them, a feeling she had never experienced until now, and her inner self was ashamed of it. Her feet continued to carry her across the floor to various sections of the room in which she proceeded to fling something else to the floor in a vain attempt to control the burning fire. Forgetting she was supposed to be packing with her childish display, she didn't hear the hesitant knock at the door.

"Mykes, we're leaving in a fe… Holy shit, what happened in here!" Pete's voice rang in Myka's ears yet she did not turn to face him. Fearing she'd do or say something she'd regret, she took several cautious side steps to the bed before slumping down to the floor in front of it.

"Hey Myka, are you okay? What's going on?" Pete raced around the bed and to Myka's side. The brunette sought comfort in her partner's arms. And for the first time since the explosion of the warehouse, Myka Bering broke down. Her sobs filled the long corridors of the bed and breakfast and her vision was blurred by an entourage of endless rain. The pain in her heart couldn't hold on any longer…didn't WANT to hold on any longer, so she clung to the only sure thing in the room.

"Pete! Myka! Is everything okay! We heard scr…Oh Myka…" Leena and Claudia had responded to the sudden shrill screams that had reached them downstairs. In concerned frenzies, they grabbed hold of a pair of Tesla's and shot up the steps, taking them by twos. Unfortunately, their weapons would hold no effect against a shattered heart and tormented soul. The two youngest agents quickly approached their friends; Claudia attached herself in a death defying grip against Myka's backside while Leena laid herself horizontally across the bed and ran reassuring hands through her grieving friend's hair. The team – family – sat in that position for several minutes just allowing their friend to let out her sorrows.

"S..She's g-g-gone, and I-I'll never g-get to tell her." Myka spoke in between choked sobs. None of them said anything to try and make Myka feel better. They knew nothing would help. Pete spotted the tiny artifact they'd retrieved the night before in Russia. He picked the Janus coin up from the nightstand and gently rested it in Myka's open palm.

"There's still hope Mykes. Have faith. We'll figure something out." He knew he was lying. He also knew giving his best friend false hope was the last thing he wanted, but he needed her to find herself. He needed the old Myka back, even if she was gone forever. Myka toyed with the object, looking it over thoroughly with eyes still flooded with tears. Leena didn't bother asking questions, and Claudia knew better than to have input. The sudden heavy footsteps coming from the foyer alerted the four team members that Artie was ascending the stairs. They all shot up from the floor, Myka searching desperately for somewhere to place the coin.

"Come on Myka! He's getting closer!" Finally panicking, the agent ripped open the locket around her neck, the one that belonged to the source of her breakdown, and stuffed the tiny coin into the frame just over the black and white photo of Helena's daughter, Christina. Snapping it back shut, she retrieved her duffel bag from beneath the bed and began throwing clothes haphazardly into the bag.

"What are you guys waiting for! An invitation! Get going, there's a plane to catch!" Artie's curly head appeared in the door way momentarily to eye each of his staff. When his eyes landed on Myka they narrowed just an inch.

"Are you alright, Myka?" The brunette's eyes shot upward to look at her boss.

"Oh yes sir, I just stubbed my toe a minute ago. It REALLY hurts." Obviously not buying it, the short man pulled back and left. The four agents let out a careful sigh and Claudia burst into chuckles.

"Let's go. Pakistan is waiting."

**End Chapter 4**

**Can't Wait!**


	5. Chapter 5

YES! Chapter 5 is up! I'm excited. Still don't own anything though…

**Chapter 5**

The plane ride to Pakistan was a bit different than Pete and Myka's trip to Russia, more than likely due to Claudia's presence. Myka had insisted upon the red-heads company and demanded she attended the mission. Claudia had been slightly terrified at first, but her elation at being a part of another assignment quickly surpassed it. Artie hadn't had the heart to try and shoot down Myka's inferred statement as he knew his agent had gone through enough stress in the past week and a half. He'd simply sent them off with a professional smile and wave. When the three boarded their plane Myka quickly claimed Claudia as her 'seat buddy' over Pete. The child agent had simply stared down at his partner with slight hurt and confusion before shrugging it off and taking the seat across the aisle from the young hacker. During the flight Myka still refused to speak but clutched at Claudia's hand as the plane rumbled and shook in the air. Realizing that Myka hadn't wanted her company to talk but as a means to replace the feeling of safety Helena had once given her. Though hurt at the thought of being used, the red-head knew the her friend was grieving and was willing to help her in any way possible, even if that meant holding her hand on a plane ride. Pete, as always, had put away his anxiety in favor of all you can eat snacks. The land, they concluded, had been a lot smoother than the take off. Pete had groaned in complete bitterness and frustration at learning it was a two hour slow drive north towards Chitral Valley before they would be forced to stop and hike another hour. He'd complained that it was a waste of precious time, and they should've been heading for Istanbul to find Sykes breaking into Alexander's Sarcophagus. He reasoned that Sykes was more than likely gone from Pakistan and by the time they reached Chitral he would've raided Istanbul and claimed his prize. Myka and Claudia merely ignored his antics and followed after their driver. The second portion of the trip had been even longer, moving across hazardous mountain terrain and winding gravel pathways. Their tiny vehicle trekked deeper and deeper into the mountains and their hidden valleys before finally reaching a sound halt. Ahead of them was but a narrow grass trail that'd been worn down by years of travelers' use. From here the agents were left on foot. Ordering the driver to stay put, their journey began again.

When the trio arrived in the village of the Kalash people, they quickly realized they were much too late. The village appeared to have once been a beautiful place full of color and life. Children should have been chasing each other across the dirt roads while weaving in and out of adults heading out for work. The adults would simply look on with a smile and continue on their way. There should've been gatherings and food everywhere to celebrate whatever holiday or special occasion was to occur. Instead was they found was fire and destruction. The village had been all but reduced to flattened ash. Charred debris littered the valley as flames rose into the sky. The wind blew strong, preventing thick smoke to rise into the sky but instead roll deeper into the mountains. There was no happiness within the people of the village as they sat helplessly on the ground staring at the remnants of their village. Myka noticed two men in the corner of her eyes carrying something away from the debris. Bodies were piled up against one of the towns guarding walls. She felt her blood pressure rise just as it had in her room.

"Well it's obvious we're in the right place. No doubt he got what he wanted. We need to get going Myka. There's no telling how close he is to Istanbul. He may have already gotten to Istanbul for all we know." Myka could only stand and take in the damage done to the innocent village.

"People died here. They died because we didn't get the job done right the first time. This one is on us. We need to help these people." The brunette charged forward but was sent swirling back when Pete took tight hold of her arm.

"Let me go, Agent Latimer!" Claudia stepped in and also took hold of her friend. She understood the blame was on them, but there was nothing they could do. Myka struggled against her friends' grips, trying to sooth the ache that had risen in her heart.

"Myka, there's nothing we can do here! You don't think I know that this one is our fault! That I didn't do my job and apprehend Sykes! I get that okay, but the way we can help these people is to catch the son of a bitch that did this!" Realizing it was pointless, Myka grew silent and watched the dirt and smoke circle her feet.

"I know this isn't fair. I know this is our fault, but Myka you have to stop blaming yourself for H.G.'s death. You blame yourself for not doing anything. You blame yourself for not trying to save her. You blame yourself for not disabling the bomb in time. I get it; really and truly I get it. But there's no reason to blame yourself. You're letting your emotions dictate how things should be done, and you just can't do that right now. H.G…Helena wouldn't want you to blame yourself." Myka remained silent, tears caressing her cheeks. Pete and Claudia finally released her, leaving a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Don't disappoint her." Myka was angry. Pete thought he knew everything yet knew nothing at the same time. He didn't know what Helena would want. He didn't know how she felt, the pain she'd been through. He didn't know her, but she also knew he was right. Resolve coming over her once more, she turned her back to Pete and Claudia and stalked back off towards their ride back to Peshawar.

"Fine, let's go." Both agents sensed the growing anger etched behind her firm voice and wondered which of them it was directed at. Not willing to argue anymore points, they followed suit.

Pete had been right, and that bugged Myka for some odd reason. Well, he'd been partially right. She knew they should've listened to him before heading all the way out to Chitral. She should've known Sykes wasn't there. Maybe it was a part of her that just wanted to know. A part of her wanted to know what damage had been done because of them. She wanted to know what type of damage had occurred just so she could take proper responsibility. What she hadn't figured out was if she was taking responsibility for the Kalash people or maybe just Helena tormenting her mind with guilt. Either way she knew she should've seen this. Her finger held steady against the smooth metallic trigger. She dared not move her eyes away from the target in front of her. Somewhere behind her she could hear Claudia breathing heavily against the thick arm wrapped around her throat. Pete stood steady on the other side of the room with his Tesla aimed low at the figure just feet away from him. Standing hand cuffed to a wheelchair was a young boy of approximately thirteen years that was kidnapped from Chitral. His bright green eyes reflected all the fear Myka held within herself. They'd walked into a downright trap. The Istanbul Archaeology Museums, they'd found, were closed on Mondays, and no doubt Sykes was already inside. That's what had led them to 'break in', only to be bombarded by Sykes and two of his men. Now they all stood at gunpoint waiting for anyone to make a move.

"Well, well, well….seems my gift didn't quite take care of you like I'd hoped. Of course I can thank H.G. Wells for that." The name slackened Myka's concentration momentarily. This wasn't going to be an easy grab, she knew that.

"You've had plenty of time to snag the sword. Why wait for two days?" Pete's question was just a stalling trick, they all knew it. The trio of agents needed a bit more time to find a solution.

"Well obviously because it's closed. A handful of security guards are easier to handle than a crowd of hundreds of people. But yes, I also wanted time to examine the sarcophagus before just barging in and tearing it apart."

"Oh why not! You didn't seem to have a problem tearing the boy's village apart." Sykes seemed thoughtful, if just for a moment. He tapped a finger against his chin and stared at the fiery brunette agent.

"Yes that was tragic, was it not? Of course, when I learned that you agents had in fact lived I decided I'd let that be a little message for you, should you be coming after me." Myka shifted her arm a fraction of an inch to allow herself better mobility should she have to turn and shoot. Sykes' two minions were preoccupied with Claudia and Pete, leaving the boss man wide open for her.

"Okay, now what! We're here. You're here. The boy is here. Why don't you open it huh? Go ahead and claim your prize." The mad man simply chuckled and rolled his chair closer to the brunette.

"You see, Agent Bering. I already have." Myka and Pete's eyes darted over to the encasing only to find it and the glass containment in perfect condition.

"But…"

"And there was no sword…"

"Then why…"

"Am I still here?" The frustration of the situation was egging at everyone's minds. They weren't sure what game he was playing, but the ending scores didn't seem to come out in their favor.

"Because I know you Agent Bering. Your love of literature is what guides you, and somewhere in that pretty little mind of yours is the answer to this puzzle. You know where the sword is, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Pete's eyes were carefully adjusting themselves between the man holding a gun up to his (Pete's) head and Sykes' figure creeping up closer to Myka. He saw the thick calloused hand inch up and gently touch the brunette's cheek. Myka was now trembling. Her firm hold of her weapon was slacking off, and she had no idea why.

"I think you do. You know the location to Alexander's sword, and you're going to tell me otherwise more of your loved ones will die." Myka looked back at Claudia whose face had turned a bright pink as her captor tightened his grip around her neck. She eyed Pete who gave a look that said 'Don't worry about us.' Her friends' lives were at stake, yet the one chance she was given to save them was the one time she really and truly did not know what to say.

"I don't know." She finally breathed out, dropping her gun.

'_SLAP'_ The image of Myka being flung to the ground with the rough swing of a hand sent Pete over edge. He charged forward and slammed and twisted the arms of the man standing in front of him. The guns were dropped immediately, and the opponent was thrown against the wall. In one fowl swoop, Pete's fist collided with his face and left him momentarily unconscious. Next he turned on Sykes and charged. Behind the disabled man he could see Myka sprawled out on the floor, blood gushing from a previously busted nose. He pounced, snatching Sykes right up from his chair.

"You SICK bastard! I'm going to make sure you get what you deserve this time. There won't be any second chances for you." The look in the psycho's eyes was rather calm considering his situation. Pete was momentarily confused before he felt a painful sting in his gut. His eyes fell and found the large taser jammed into his torso. Without another word his body mass tipped over, dragging Sykes with him. As the man who'd been knocked out by Pete finally readjusted his boss in the wheelchair, Myka slowly came to and witnessed the damage.

"Pete!"

"Not so fast!" Agent Bering halted. The blood sliding across her skin made it made it burn with a crazy itch that she dared not move to scratch.

"Now, if you do not tell me what you know, I will kill him and your annoying hacker buddy." It seemed that Claudia had instinctually behaved during Pete's episode. They didn't need any more commotion and chaos than required. This time Sykes had a gun on hand and meant what he said. Myka slowly stood, hands held up, as Sykes instructed.

"Tell. Me. Where. The. Sword. Is." His voice was strangely calm and smooth. Perhaps it was a seducing technique, Myka thought. Whatever it was, she couldn't let herself fall for his traps again.

"I don't know." Unfortunately, even he was prone to losing patience. With a flick of his wrist, Pete and Claudia were being placed on their knees in front of Sykes whose gun was set to aim at their heads.

"NO!"

"Then tell me!"

"I don't know anything, I swear!" Sykes frowned and cocked the hammer of his gun.

"I'm giving you one more chance. Tell me where it is."

"What makes you think I know! I'm telling you I don't!" The psycho halted for a minute, thinking over the question. In figuring an answer he'd lowered his gun and moved in front of the brunette once more.

"Granted, if only H.G. weren't dead I'd be asking her, not you. However, since she is, all the choice I now have is the next best thing, the one person who knew H.G. better than anyone else on this planet. You both shared common interests and spent a great deal of time together I hear. Surely she's told you all of her little secrets." Myka shook desperately in response to the name. The thought that she could know Helena as well as he spoke seemed almost fake. His voice held a sort of insinuation that their relationship was somehow more than knowledge based.

"You're wrong. I never knew Helena like that. She was a good friend, but she didn't trust me enough to tell me secrets. If she did, she wouldn't have been turned into Emily Lake and her conscious imprisoned in the Janus Coin. If she couldn't trust me to help her then there was no way she'd trust me with secrets like these. I'm not lying when I say I don't know." Sykes didn't know whether he should combust with anger or admit the agent may have been telling the truth. The gun turned over in his hand between shooting Myka, Pete, or Claudia first.

"You're really clever. To have mastered your guilt is an amazing feat." The brunette looked on in confusion. Had his thoughts been jumbled during his space travel expedition?

"You've depersonalized yourself from her. You've convinced yourself it wasn't your fault. You're ready to see what truly happened that day. My inside resources spoke to me of what happened that day, how you three escape." Not wanting to listen to his nonsense, she turned away and focused on the shadows of the large exhibit hall.

"She deserved to die. She betrayed the team, and she was bound to do it again."

"That's not true!" Myka turned on him again, a flame in her eyes.

"Isn't it! She did betray, correct? If there's one thing I know it's once a liar, always a liar."

"She wasn't going to betray us! She saved our lives! We owe her."

"Admit it! You wanted her dead! The person who used you like an artifact was free again! That's why you let her kill herself. You were glad to see her go!"

"That's not true."

"You couldn't handle the no good Brit. You couldn't risk losing your job and life because she was lying to you. You needed her gone. That's why your guilt is eating away at your soul because you know it's true."

"Shut-up!" Myka felt her head throbbing with an almost bewitching pain. His words were jumbling her thinking process. Was what he was saying true? Did she really want Helena dead? Was that why she felt so guilty? Pete and Claudia watched in exasperation. They wanted desperately to yell and scream and tell Myka how none of it was her fault. They wanted to tell her that what he was saying wasn't true. She didn't wish for Helena's death, but they also knew this was one battle Myka needed to solve on her own if she was going to move on.

"Come on Agent Bering! Take revenge on the woman who betrayed your trust. Tell me her secrets." The throbbing intensified. It felt as though one were driving hot pins through her brain. She had to sit on her knees to steady the nausea and dizziness engulfing her senses. It wasn't true. She would never Helena dead.

"You despise her. You want to ruin her very soul!" No. No, she didn't. That's why she and Pete had had such a huge argument over destroying the Janus Coin. That's why she'd felt so destroyed over hearing Helena was to receive a punishment worse than bronzing. That why she'd shivered and cried herself to sleep when she learned they'd detached Helena's conscious from her body and shoved it into limbo. Nobody deserved to live like that. No. She didn't want to destroy Helena.

"That's not true!" She could feel her emotions attacking her full force. She wanted to defend her friend, but the thought that she was actually gone kept slapping her in the face. The tears gathered in her eyes. At any moment she could just bust and take anyone or thing around her with her.

"It is! Now tell me!" His voice drew closer and louder.

"No!" Clutching desperately at the locket laying uninterrupted between her breasts, Myka searched for any form of comfort in the piece of jewelry. Perhaps there was some sign or feeling that Helena was watching over her. That she would be taken care of no matter what.

"Tell me where it is or I will kill them all and make sure you feel the guilt for the rest of your sad life! It'll be easy for me too, just like it was to kill H.G. They are nothing. She was nothing." Sykes' words crashed in to her like a derailed freight train. Her anger reached a new level in her blood. Her heart pumped a thousand beats a minute. The sheer pain and sorrow over the lost of her beloved sent tsunamis washing over her face.

"I SAID NO!" The outburst sent Sykes rolling back a couple of turns. Myka kept her eyes down casted, not wanting to look the monster in his soulless eyes. Pete and Claudia hadn't moved since Sykes' taunting had begun, but no they held a deep breath.

"Yeah…" Myka's voice had lowered several octaves to an almost soothing whisper. Pete wondered what he was hearing in his partner's voice.

"…Helena betrayed us. She betrayed me. She used my feelings to get closer to the team and to achieving her goal to destroy the world." Her hand wrapped tighter around the locket, still unable to shield it from the bombardment of tears spilling over it.

"But I forgave her. I forgave her even if I didn't realize it. I forgave her before she even stole the trident. For a long time I wondered why. I searched myself every single day, trying to figure out how I could forgive her so easily when the rest of my team couldn't bear to even look at her." She took note of Sykes' steady hand ready to pull the trigger as she dragged her admittance out. To her, this was release from the burden she'd been carrying for almost two weeks now. To her, this was recovery.

"I didn't despise her. I wasn't guilty because I hadn't killed her. She didn't deserve to die. In fact, out of all of us, she deserved to live just for sacrificing herself to save us. I don't know about my team, but that makes her a hero in my book. And Helena was everything. She was everything you aren't and so much more. She was like a mother to Claudia. She was Pete's pupil in almost everything. She was Artie's daughter whether he admits it or not. She treated Leena like a sister. And me? Well she was the person who knew me better than anyone else in the world." She finally found herself smiling, remembering the conversation her and Helena had had just before Pete was to destroy the coin. She looked up and over at Pete and Claudia who were attempting to keep glistening eyes and trembles away.

"How do you say goodbye to a person like that? I know I can't. She deserved to be home again, and because of you, she'll never get that chance. So no. Even if you kill my friends, even if you kill me, I wouldn't ever tell you even if I did know. That's the way my friends would want it, and I love my friends – my family. I love Helena." She finally moved her eyes to look Sykes dead on.

"So no." The room grew silent. Sykes' two men stood on either side of a teary Pete and Claudia. The red-head didn't mind, but Pete was a man who rarely cried. Sykes didn't waver from his gun nor his hard stare at the brunette agent knelt in front of him defending the life of a dead woman. Myka could only smile at herself and her thoughts of her love. It didn't register the near burning hot feel radiating off of the locket clutched so tight in her palm her knuckles were white. Her heart pounded even harder if that were possible, and there was another strange sensation occurring which she couldn't place as being an internal or external force. I felt as though another's essence was flowing through her own. It felt warm and loving.

"Helena…" She whispered, eyes snapped shut trying to picture the beautiful Brit the last time she'd seen her alive. She attempted to remember every detail from the tight dark blue jeans, white low cut blouse, and tan leather jacket to the exact shade of mocha brown that had haunted her gorgeous eyes and the exact place of every hair on her head. The view and intense feel was outstanding. She never wanted to leave that very moment.

"I really wish you'd seen it my way. Pity…You better hope you see your love on the other side…" She listened to the amplified sound of the gun's hammer cocking back again.

"Myka! Don't do it Sykes!" Pete squirmed against the oversized paws crushing his ribcage cage, trying to prevent his partner's demise. As he finally wore down, he noticed a small pinpoint of luminescence beneath the unmoving hand holding tightly to Helena's locket.

"The Janus Coin…" He whispered, remembering Myka had placed it inside the locket before leaving for Pakistan. Claudia stopped her own struggle to see what Pete was gawking at. Myka's smile grew as the orb expanded over her hand. It wasn't an intense light, just a somewhat translucent shape.

"Give my regards to H.G. Her skills truly were irreplaceable, as I've come to find." Even with closed eyes, Myka felt the air move against Sykes' hand as he lifted his gun higher to aim for her head.

"This time it will be right between those beautiful eyes, just like I promised huh?" Myka didn't respond, only smiled as the warmth grew to caress her entire body.

"_Myka…"_ That voice.

"_Myka…look at me." _That sweet accented voice that Myka never thought she'd hear again. She felt a soft finger caress her cheek and move all the way down to the base of the neck.

"_Myka…I love you…more than anything."_ The brunette smiled. She would be with her beloved soon.

"_I love you too…Helena…"_

'_BANG, BANG'_

Silence.

**End Chapter 5**

**You already know what's next…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 is here! My favorite Chapter! I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I have writing. This is also the longest chapter I think…**

**Chapter 6**

'_BANG, BANG'_

That was the last thing Myka Bering heard before entering free fall. At least, it felt like entering free fall. The best was she could possibly describe it was falling straight out of the sky and being caught by the safest thing you could ever think of. That's what she'd felt but subconsciously realized she was still sitting on her knees on the stone floor. That fact didn't make since in her mind. Is that how one died? They began the afterlife in the exact position they left life in? It had to be. That was the only thing that felt the same. The air around her was no longer freezing her fingertips. Instead, it scorched her skin with warmth she'd been craving for two weeks. Her heart no longer pounded at the speed of light but at the same beat of another distinct thud which currently rattled through her ears. Beyond the steady thud was the sound of frantic chatter. Maybe it was the sound of her friends' last words as Sykes pulled the trigger. She felt sorry for them having to see her go the way they did. They'd both already lost Steve and Helena but now her too? It wasn't fair, but she knew they understood.

"Myka, come on get up!" The sudden alertness of the voice made Myka jump, and her mind was quickly sucked back into reality. Her eyes shot open to exam her surroundings. The kidnapped boy looked on even more frightened by the change in opponents and events, still being dragged around by a wheelchair. Pete and Claudia were striking their captors while Sykes lied sprawled out across the floor. He groaned and pressed a hand to the bloody gash on his head. Still on her knees, she only had a view of the bottom half of an average heightened figure which she was currently staring at. Worn boots cracked against the fallen man's ribcage with brute force.

"That's for blowing up the Warehouse!" Another kick…

"That's for leaving me no other choice!" Another…

"That's for kidnapping a child from his family!" Two more kicks…

"That's for taunting Myka and making her cry!" Myka didn't want to look up into the face of her savior. The voice and boots were torture enough. She couldn't look up to try and confirm any hopes because that would be the moment the face would disappear back into the shadows of her heart. Sykes rolled over gripping his side in agonizing pain. His face bled from various gashes and a broken bloody nose. The boot reared back and struck the side of his head.

"And that was for sticking that good for nothing piece of weaponry anywhere near her!" Sykes groaned one more time before slumping fully against the floor. Suddenly, all the sound in the room came from heavy breaths. Pete and Claudia had subdued their captives and knocked the living Hell out of them. Pete knelt down beside Myka, gripping her shoulder with the brightest smile he'd ever bore.

"You alright there?" Myka frowned and pressed a hand against the dried blood on her cheeks and neck.

"Yeah, we'll have to clean you up on the way home." Pete laughed out. He looked up and behind him somewhere. Myka didn't bother following. She'd been saved by a fallen angel and didn't get the chance to say thank you or goodbye.

"How are you…here?" Pete's voice broke the tension. There was no response, only a definite 'click, click, click' as the boots drew closer to Pete and Myka. Claudia stood between the three unconscious men, making sure to Tesla the next one that twitched.

"Myka?" The voice was back haunting her head. She thought release would set her free from the confines of such perfection. However, it seemed to have only made it much worse.

"Myka, say something." Pete begged. What could Myka say? If she did speak it would make that beautiful voice disappear. She had to try though. If there was any chance this was real, she needed to try. She slowly picked her head up to look into mocha orbs. The sight made her break all over again.

"Helena?" The figure smiled an insanely bright smile, teeth and all. She ran a casual hand through jet black locks and fell onto her knees in front of Pete and Myka. The Brit cupped Myka's cheeks in both hands, the crusted blood being gently scrubbed off. Myka felt fresh hot tears fall from her face. Today would be National Crying Day from now on, she noted in the back of her mind.

"Oh, don't cry darling. I hate to see you cry." Helena pulled Myka forward and fully into her arms. Myka was in heaven…no better. This was the safest place she could ever be. Finally taking in the reality of her current situation, the brunette agent threw her arms around Helena's neck, pulling against the leather coat. Her sobs drowned out any other noise in the room.

"Shhhh, it's going to be alright sweetheart. It'll be alright." Helena stroked long fingers through Myka's silky locks, hoping to sooth the shaken up brunette. They swayed back and forth holding on for dear life.

"Uh, guys?" Pete looked back at Claudia who kept a steady eye on Sykes who had proceeded to roll over on to his stomach. Pete stood fast and closed the distance between himself and Sykes. There was no way he was screwing up this time.

"You, mister, are coming with us on a nice plane ride back to South Dakota, and then we'll hand you off to the Regents. I can only hope they do something worse than separate your conscious from your body." Pete took hold of Sykes by lapels of his coat and dropped back down in his wheelchair. His hands rummaged through Sykes' pockets until they grazed a tiny metal key. In seconds Pete undid the handcuffs around the boy's wrists.

"There you go kid." He stated, hoping the reassurance in his voice told him that they were there to help since he more than likely didn't understand English. In one finally swoop, Pete moved the cuffs over Sykes' wrists and bound him to his own wheelchair. Deciding that Pete had the bad guys under control, Claudia made a mad dash over to the hugging brunettes and crashed into Helena.

"H.G.!" She cried happily. Helena laughed a throaty laugh and used the only arm she could free from Myka to take in Claudia as well. Myka had calmed down into quiet whimpers, head still buried deep in the British agent's neck. Claudia managed to worm her arm between Myka and Helena to and squeezed Helena tightly, shaking her back and forth with unbridled excitement.

"I'm so happy to see you!" The red-head cried, the joy of it all too much as her eyes filled with tears once more.

"And me you." Helena responded quietly. She looked over to Myka and made an attempt to pry her away. The brunette hadn't complied willingly, not that Helena had expected her to, but she was soon peeled off with Claudia's assistance.

"Come on dear. Let's go home." Helena whispered comfortingly. Home. The word struck Myka as odd. The past two weeks had been a time for emotional roller coasters, identity crisis, and questions. The word 'home' hadn't seemed to apply to her at all. Now that Helena was in her arms, at least she was still deciphering between dream and reality, the word meant everything…life, death, love. She felt herself speaking much faster than she was able to think. Fortunately, her voice was still cracked and low.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing, I'll tell you later…I hope." Myka muttered the last part under her breath. Helena gave her an odd look before standing and pulling both of the women up with her. She turned to look at Pete only to find a Tesla heading for her face. On quick instinct, she reached out and caught the offending item.

"Don't disappoint again H.G." Pete ordered with mocked seriousness. The Brit smiled widely and nodded.

"I don't intend on making that mistake a second time." She strode over to Pete's side as he pulled out his Farnsworth. Behind them Claudia was tending to the crusted red substance covering Myka's face, neck, and blouse.

"Hellooooo Artie!" The excitement in Pete's voice earned him a definite groan from the man back in South Dakota.

"There had better be a good reason you're calling Peter."

"Of course there is Artie. We got Sykes! See?" He tilted the Farnsworth over to showcase Sykes' battered, swollen face.

"I must say, well done. Are you headed back home soon." Artie asked.

"Yep but not just with Sykes. It seems we'll need one more plane ticket." Pete revealed. Artie held an inquisitive look of curiosity in his eyes though he tried to hide it. Pete tilted the Farnsworth once more only this time to his other side. The image of a smiling Brit alarmed Artie.

"Dear God! H.G.! How…How!"

"We don't know. I don't even think she knows. Sykes was getting ready to finish off Myka when all of a sudden I see this little light, and then she just appeared. It was a little weird to say the least." Pete scratched the back of his head.

"Hmmm, where did the little light come from?"

"H.G.'s locket that Myka's wearing."

"I see." Artie went silent for a moment, thinking over several possibilities in his mind. Helena's eyes shot towards Myka and noted the trembling fingers still wrapped tightly around an object hung around her neck. The agent smiled sadly. Myka had been in so much pain that she didn't believe she (Helena) was really alive. She feared if she even loosened her hold on the locket Helena would fade away.

"Have you noticed anything different about the locket?" Artie inquired.

"No, not really…..wait! Back in Russia one of the guys, Sam, had the Janus Coin in his pocket. It fell out when we kicked his ass. And before we left for Pakistan Myka put it inside the locket." Artie fell silent again but not to think. Pete eyed the glare being sent through the screen. The daggers pierced his conscious like needles.

"And in the time since you discovered the coin did you not stop to think that maybe YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!" The veins in Artie's face were pushing through his skin.

"Well no…sir. Do you think that could've been what brought H.G. back?" Artie took deep breaths trying to relieve the tension built up in his head.

"Yes, it's the only reasonable explanation I can think of right now. The locket was an extension of H.G. in that it held a part of her being and essence. By itself it can do nothing, but when placed with the Janus Coin, which held H.G.'s conscious, it somehow materialized H.G.'s physical form. Myka's emotions must've caused the two electromagnetic fields to interrupt each other and fuse, activating the materialization." Artie responded. Pete glanced between Helena and Myka. Claudia moved to cuff the two unconscious men on the other side of the room.

"So basically, Myka brought H.G. back to life."

"Basically." Artie confirmed.

"With her love!" Claudia shouted happily from somewhere in the opposite direction. Pete and Helena chuckled and looked at Artie.

"We're coming home." Pete said and cut communication on the Farnsworth. He stuck the bulky device in his back pocket and placed a hand on H.G.'s shoulder.

"I'm glad your back." He admitted with a smile.

"Thanks." She replied.

'_CRASH'_ The sudden sound caused everyone in the room to jump into defensive stances. Small canisters rolled across the floor from Myka's direction, releasing copious amounts of smoke into the air.

"CS gas! Everybody close your eyes, and don't breathe! We have to get out of here!" Helena called out. Everyone did as they were told. The gas quickly filled the room as they moved about blindly searching for a way out.

'_BOOM, BOOM'_ Rocks came tumbling down from somewhere above, striking the ground around them.

'They're trying to make the building collapse!' H.G. cried out in her mind. She continued running her hands over the walls searching for some sort of exit. By now everyone was struggling to not pass out from lack of oxygen. Suddenly, Myka couldn't hold on any longer. She let out a long exhale and came back with an even greater inhale. The pain was instantaneous as the chemical worked to irritate her nasal cavities, throat, and lungs.

"HELENA!" She cried, gripping her chest. Her windpipe was constricting due to the swelling, and her lungs weren't expanding as they should've been. H.G. had heard scream and fear gripped at her heart. Her own oxygen levels were depleting fast, but by now the gas was beginning to air out. The ground continued to shake and rumble causing large debris to crash around them. Everyone let out exhaustive breaths, wincing at the irritation. Her eyes shot open, searching the foggy room for Myka.

"Myka! Where are you, Myka!" There was no response. Helena raced towards the last place she'd seen the brunette standing, coughing vehemently. Pete and Claudia's footsteps were close by; however, Myka was nowhere in sight. Pete finally reached her side and looked around.

"I can't find her Pete." Helena whispered. She was beyond worried. Myka had more than likely breathed excessive amounts of the gas which constricted the airways and stiffened the lungs. They needed to find Myka and expose her to clean air.

From the side, two dark shadows tackled Helena and Pete to the ground. Their faces were hidden behind military grade gas masks. Helena fought against the binding hands around her throat. Her boots fluttered uselessly through the air, hoping to strike any portion of the man she could reach. Pete was having slightly better luck when he took hold of the hands and yanked them back farther than they were supposed to reach. A perfect crack satisfied his ears, and he flung the man away from himself and on top of his buddy. Helena shot up and lifted the man's head up with a yank of his hair. Her delicate fingers struck the side of his face, sending him rolling over. She noticed the Tesla and made a dive for it but was yanked back by her ankle beneath the larger of the men. He held her neck study and sent a jaw busting throw against her head. Her vision blurred slightly as Pete jumped on his back and pulled him into a head lock. Regaining stable grounds, Helena sent a boot straight into the groin. Feeling her kenpō instincts take over, she struck the bundle of nerves at the base of his neck, swung her leg upwards and into his gut causing him to double over, took his head between the palms of her hands and turned both of their figures over so the back of his head laid on her shoulder, and yanked down causing a cracking in his spine. She then sent her elbow flying backwards into his spine causing it to crack even further. He screamed in agony as H.G. released him only to spin back around and catch him in her left arm, slamming her right elbow into his face. Finally she pushed him back up into a standing position and swung her leg upwards and kicked him in the side of the face. The bulky man fell to the ground unmoving. Pete looked down at the man then up at H.G.

"Wow. You want to teach me sometime?" Pete asked. Helena responded first with a slight laugh.

"Sorry, there's somebody else I've been meaning to teach, and I only give private lessons."

"Hey guys! I need help!" Claudia's voice called out through the darkness that had taken the room. The trembling had finally come to an end, and the smoke had cleared out. Helena and Pete followed the sound of Claudia's frantic cries. They approached and stack of rubble with an injured Claudia pinned by the leg.

"I had to save Myka from getting crushed. She's over there." Claudia pointed a bit further into the darkness. Pete agreed to stay and help Claudia while Helena searched for Myka. It didn't take much walking as she found the brunette face down in the dirt.

"Myka!" Helena rushed to the agent's side and turned her over. Myka's eyes had turned bloodshot with irritation. Her nasal cavities were coated in red spots, similar to a rash, and her lips had turned a slight blue. Though she was breathing, it was extremely rigid wheezing sounds that escaped her lips.

"H.G., I got Claudia! Let's go!" Pete called from behind her. She took Myka up in her arms, though not one of the easiest tasks in the world, and followed after Pete. In no time they'd left the room and found the outdoor air. Police sirens were filing in from the southern end of the street. The team took off to get a flight home. One the plane, Pete asked the flight attendant for use of the plane's oxygen mask due to his friend's asthma attack. She'd quickly agreed, and soon enough color was returning to Myka's face. Helena sighed and gripped tightly to Myka's hand; she knew, even in unconsciousness, that Myka hated flying.

"Owwww…what the Hell?" Myka choked out, regaining consciousness. The feel of soft bed sheets grazed across her skin somehow easing the angry throbbing in her head and gravel trail down her throat. Her eyes flew open, and her entire torso shot straight up. Taking in her surroundings, she realized she was lying safely in her bedroom at the B & B.

"Hey, I thought I heard you making noise." Her neck snapped sideways to view the figure of Pete standing in her doorway.

"Wha…How?" Her mind not yet willing to allow her to speak coherently, Pete moved closer and snatched up the bottle of aspirin while tossing the bottle water into her lap.

"You inhaled a lot of the gas. We had Dr. Calder come check on you, and she said you were going to be okay besides a bit of a sore throat and cough for a couple days. She said you should take these when you woke and drink lots of water." He answered, dropping two pills in her upturned hand. Myka popped them into her mouth and taking the water in gracious gulps.

"What happened exactly? I remember hearing all the crashing and then choking on air. Claudia pushed me away from falling debris, and then, everything was black." She asked after screwing the cap back on the bottle. Pete gently sat himself on the edge of the bed.

"Hmmm…the bad guys came in and tossed the gas. They took out the support beams so the room would collapse. They took Sykes and the boy, and then, we found you and flew home. The girls got you out of those dirty clothes, tended to your head and nose, and here you've slept for the last thirty-six hours." Her eyes bulged at the startling revelation.

"Well damn…no wonder I feel like I could eat an entire farm." Pete chuckled and pulled out a small pack of strawberry Twizzlers from his pocket.

"I – uh – got you these when we landed back in South Dakota. I didn't know when you'd wake up but knew that when you did you'd more than likely be starving. I figured there wouldn't be anything better to feed you than your favorite candy." Myka smiled a wide, ear to ear smile. Gingerly taking the candy from Pete, she pulled open the pack and stuck the end of a strand of Twizzler between her lips.

"Thanks Pete; this means a lot." Pete's eyes lit with a relieved twinkle that his partner was okay. One of his thick hands reached up and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No problem Mykes. Although, you may not want to eat too many of them just yet because Leena just finished dinner and should be calling…

"Pete, Leena says dinner is ready! Hurry up and get down here so she'll let us eat!" Both agents chuckled at Claudia's timing.

"Be there in a second!" Pete called back before standing up and offering a hand to Myka.

"You coming or do I get to eat your helping?" Myka grinned and allowed her partner to help her onto her feet.

"Not a chance. My stomach is aching to get some of Leena's food in it." She picked the forgotten water bottle off the mattress and set it back on the bedside table. However, she didn't move to follow Pete. Her partner could sense the lurking question as he watched Myka's features fall into a tearful frown.

"Hey, what's the matter?" He asked though already knowing the answer. Myka looked up at him chewing on her lip. Thoughts and memories rushed through her mind of what had happened before being under attack with CS gas. She knew what she wanted to ask yet feared the answer. Wringing her fingers between each other, she moved a step closer to Pete hoping it would keep her from speaking louder than she desired.

"Pete…I…I tried not to say anything about it partially because I wasn't sure how to bring it up, but also because I was scared…am still scared of the answer." She down-casted her eyes, a small sob rushing past her lips.

"I am just so scared that I've gone insane, that my imagination has gone wild. I tried my best to hold it off but I need to know…" Pete's muscular arms wove themselves over his partner's trembling shoulders. He hadn't realized until that very moment just exact how much the day of the explosion had ruined Myka. He rubbed a firm hand up and down her back in any attempt to give his sister figure comfort.

"Shhhh, it's okay Mykes. You don't have to ask." Myka nodded against Pete's chest, wiping away the few tears that fell from her eyes.

"Is…"

"She's okay. She's alive." The relief that came with the loud sigh made Pete cringe just a bit. It was worrisome on how much Myka had become dependent of the topic of their conversation.

"Artie sent her away to be debriefed by the Regents. He says that's when they were supposed to decide what's going to happen to her. She left about three hours after we got back and still hasn't returned." The news now made Myka cringe.

"They can't put Helena back into the coin! She saved our lives! That's got to count for something, right?" Myka questioned. Yes, she was relieved the author was alive, though still processing that fact, but she refused to watch her beloved Brit be put back in prison.

"I honestly don't know. Artie refuses to discuss anything regarding H.G. at the moment. Really, I don't think they're even telling him anything at this point." Myka trembled a bit more in Pete's arms.

"I'm sure it's going to be okay. The Regents probably just want to assess her correctly this time or whatever. Come on, let's go down for dinner. I can hear your stomach crying out in agony." Myka laughed a little and allowed Pete to drag here out of the room and help her descend the stairs.

"Myka!" Came the strident cry of a familiar red-headed hacker. A ball of energy collided with the still clumsy Myka who was sent crashing to the floor. Claudia proceeded to almost snuggle into Myka's body, not minding that they were currently entangled on the floor.

"Claud, she just woke up! You can't go around tackling people who just suffered noggin bumps and high exposure to gases!" Pete ordered, yanking Claudia up by the collar of her jean jacket.

"I'm so sorry. I just can't believe you're finally awake!' The two agents took hold of one of Myka's hands and carefully pulled her from the floor. Claudia then moved to hug her again only much gentler than before. Smiling the young hacker took Myka's hand and pulled her towards the dining room.

"I hope you're hungry. Leena and Pete got into an argument over eating home food or take-out. She just finally gave up and said she'd make some homemade pizzas." Myka laughed and looked back at Pete whose hand were intertwined behind his head with a smile.

"Hey, I'm game for some pizza. It doesn't matter who makes them." As the trio entered the dining room, they found Artie already munching away at a slice of pizza with Leena pouring him a steaming cup of coffee. Upon noticing the group's entrance, Leena looked up and eyes immediately fell on Myka.

"It's so good to see you up and moving around again." She called out, offering a soft hug to the brunette. Artie turned in his seat which gave Myka enough space to see a small golden pocket watch resting safely on the table and a stack of notes where his pen had been scribbling moments earlier.

"Agent Bering, nice to see you're still alive." They smiled cautiously at each other before Pete led Myka to her seat, and Claudia and Pete took their own.

"Thank you Artie. It's good to be alive still." Artie looked up with a professional smile but returned to his notes. For several minutes Myka remained silent. Pete and Claudia were across from her, fighting over a particularly larger slice of pizza. Artie continued to scribble on his paper, only taking a bit of his pizza between every several sets of lines. The brunette stared down at the slice Pete had dropped on her plate before sitting down and remembered the intense rumble that's echoed in her stomach. For some reason her ambitions were no longer in eating but in learning what it was Artie was working on. She leaned over her plate and spoke.

"Hey Artie, I don't mean to – you know – interrupt, but can I ask what you're working on? I know I've been out of it for almost two days, but I know you've been working with that watch a lot since the explosion." The boss' pen halted in mid word writing. The bickering siblings across the table seemed to have stopped mid conversation. Myka glanced at them and wanted to laugh at their positions. Pete had the said slice of pizza in his left hand pulled as far back from Claudia as possible with the palm of his right hand crushed against her cheek. Claudia had leaned over Pete as though giving him a hug to reach the pizza. Artie's thick eyebrows creased together for a moment before he set the pen down, linked his fingers together, and pressed them against his chapped lips. For a second nobody moved. Even Leena sensed the tension in the room and retreated into the kitchen.

"I…I mean you don't have to tell me. You ARE the boss so you're probably working on something important like always. Sorry I brought it up." She insisted while picking at the tiny pepperoni slices tossed across her pizza slice. She knew Artie wouldn't yell at her because of all the agents she obeyed the rules the most. He would most likely understand her discomfort in having touched a topic she was not meant to touch, that is until she finally saw Artie move in her peripheral.

"No, it's alright. I realize that I have been quite secretive these last several days." With Pete and Claudia's attention focused on Artie, Leena strolled in and plucked the slice of pizza away from Pete and began to nibble at it. The action was responded to with a chorus of _'Hey!'_ Forgetting about the pizza, Pete and Claudia leaned in closer to hear what Artie would say. Said man took hold of the small pocket watch.

"James gave me this watch, after he died when I was having all those visions of him in the warehouse. He said I might need it someday. It was retrieved on a mission and we both use to argue over it. We'd argue over what it did, who it belonged to, where it should go, or what should be done with it." Nostalgia filled Artie's eyes as his stubby fingers brushed over its face.

"I've been trying to study the watch to see exactly what it does. We came to an agreement that it could turn back time; however, we never learned what kinds of things would happen. I've been studying it to determine what kinds of side effects come with it. You know, does it steal the life of the user, does it send you back in time for only a few moments to do something and then send you back, or does it do something much worse? I'm nearly positive it holds the key to bringing back the warehouse, but I'm trying to determine the _catch 22_, if you will." Having explained his intentions of the watch, Artie stuffed it into his coat pocket and tossed the papers and pen onto a nearby surface.

"So you think we can save the warehouse?" Claudia's question cut through the bizarre tension in the room. Artie glanced at her before nodding his head slowly.

"I think it's possible, but I will not use the watch until I know for certain all the consequences of using it. Now, no more questions. It would be rude to let Leena's hard work go to waste seeing as how Pete is the reason she made pizza in the first place." Pete pulled away from Artie almost sheepishly and continued to dig in to the large platter of pizza at the center of the table.

The rest of dinner was uneventful for the most part. Myka and Artie didn't say another word about the watch or otherwise. Claudia and Pete joked and argued about various topics from the food on their plates to latest movies, video games, and music. It was a refreshing sight in Myka's mind considering the time she'd had in the last couple of weeks. Claudia seemed to have healed a great deal since Steve's death before the explosion. Her response to the emotional trauma hadn't been quite as severe as Myka's to the loss of Helena, but she'd still come a long way on the road to recovery. Pete had also done well keeping his emotions high to provide some source of cheer for the group as always. The girls couldn't have been more thankful for Pete's optimism when their spirits were low. However, Myka was slightly concerned as to how Pete was handling his own emotions. Of course, she was confident that if he needed her, he'd come and ask for her. Leena had been upset with Ms. Fredrick's death but made a definite attempt not to reveal those emotions in the presence of her family. Artie…well Artie was just Artie. He didn't show emotions about these types of issues, and the death of two of his agents and his boss hadn't seemed to affect him on the outside. Myka smiled at her family and their attempts to keep going. She knew they were much stronger than she was which was why she was thankful to be a part of this family.

At the end of dinner, Claudia and Pete had taken off into the den to begin their anticipated video game marathon. Artie had simply thanked Leena for the delicious meal, wished Myka a goodnight, and waltzed out the door to return to the warehouse. That left Myka who insisted on helping Leena with clean-up due to her prolonged absence. She'd rinsed out all the dishes and set the dishwasher before returning to wiping down the table. Leena had thanked her for her help and scurried off to finish evening chores. Not sure what else to do, the brunette agent left the common areas for her personal sanctuary, the library. The libraries walls were packed high with shelves of books of all genres including: romance, science fiction, horror, and any other genre she couldn't quite put a finger on. As she moved along the tall, lanky shelves, her hand grazed the shelves level with her hip disturbing dust motes that fluttered in the current of air her figure created. She watched as the tiny flakes danced in front of her eyes with a tired smile before the caught on the thin fabrics of her black t-shirt. Perhaps it was time to settle in with a nice, long book to doze off to. Reaching the end of one wall, she reached into the back of the shelf searching for the other half of her personal collection. It wasn't like anybody else used the library; it just felt nice to actually HAVE a place to put your treasures. She' done the same with her personal treasures back home. There'd been a small cranny between the large cushioned chair and bookshelf in her family's study. She'd spent her years storing her collections away in the cranny. Her hand grazed over the rigid cover of several of her books which she proceeded to free from their confinements. The dust that flew off the covers flared her nostrils and mixed with the smoky residue in her throat. She let out a strangled fit of coughs yet continued to pull the books close, protecting the clandestine words between the tattered covers.

"I was hoping you'd still be tucked away in your bed. I guess I should have known better considering your irrefutable disliking of being confined to a bed with nothing to do." The intruding voice startled Myka who yelped and released her grip on the books that crashed into her foot. A jolt of pain sprinted through the nerves in her foot followed by the sound of a husky chuckle from the entrance. She spun on her heel to stare at the genuine British smile gleaming back at her.

"H..Helena…" Myka stuttered, unsure of whether to jump with glee or yell at the inventor's carelessness. Instead, she simply stood among the safety of her books and gawked at the brunette before her.

"I didn't mean to startle you; although, I do hope you don't mind. I arrived here moments ago with the intention of seeing you. Leena informed me you'd come here after I found your bedroom empty. I must admit, however, I was slightly worried." Helena stated, taking cautious steps further into the room, hands kept tightly behind her back.

"N-no…it's…it's okay. You just…startled me is all." Myka could feel the palms of her hands turn cold and clammy with sweat. Her muscles ached with an unknown feeling, and her mind raced a thousand miles a minute around, yet again, the memories of the last time she actually seen the beautiful woman before her with clear eyes. Helena grew closer, though slowing her pace to keep her friend comfortable.

"How are you feeling?" Helena asked, trying to ease some of the apprehension showing through Myka's features. Myka looked down at her shaky hands searching for the words she was supposed to say.

"F-fine. I'm well, thank you." She whispered. The corner's of Helena's lips turned upward, yet she did not smile. It was more a gesture of acknowledgement than happiness and joy. The two women stood in awkward silence for several minutes before Myka noticed her saving grace lying scattered around her feet. She bent into a squat to take up several books that'd fallen from her arms.

"Oh, let me…" Helena quickly rushed forward and took the books from Myka's hands. The younger agent smiled thankfully and picked up the rest. They moved around the furniture to the plush red sofa in the center of the room. Helena set her stack of books down on a side table at one end as Myka did the same at the other. As Helena scanned the pages of the top book, Myka decided enough was enough and things needed to be said.

"I tried to be mad." She all but yelled, slapping a hand down on top of the books. The British woman's deep brown eyes shot up with a look of anxiousness. She, too, knew they needed to have this conversation. She just wasn't quite sure where it would go or what would be said. All she knew was where she desperately wanted it to go.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked. It wasn't a question of what she had said. It was simply a request to continue.

"I tried so damn hard to be mad at you. I've spent every waking hour trying to decide what I was going to say to you if I ever saw you again, how I was going to act. After you betrayed us – me – I tried to be mad at you. I spent months afterwards trying to convince myself that I hated you." Helena sighed and stepped over to move around the sofa towards Myka. However, the brunette halted her in her tracks with a single hand.

"No. I need to say this and if you come near me I will break before I can get it all out. I need you to hear all of this because I need you to understand. I need you to help me understand what's wrong with me." The Brit hesitated but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

"Unfortunately, all I could seem to hate was everything else. I hated the people who murdered Christina. I hated the Regents for agreeing to your request to be bronzed. I hated Artie for having such little faith in you. I hated all the secrets you refused to tell me. I hated the darkness and loneliness for consuming you. I could produce so much hate for the rest of the world, yet I could hold none for you." It was Helena's turn to fidget. The muscles in her body wanted desperately to weave themselves through everything that was Myka. She needed to feel the woman's body against hers.

"Then you came along and convinced me to join the warehouse again. You helped us on cases, and even though everyone else hated you, God help me but I had hope. I had faith that you were healing, and I don't know why. Sykes came along, and we discovered what the Regents had done with you. I was happy to at least know where you were and what had happened, even if it did hurt me to see you like that." It almost appeared as though Myka had smiled at those memories. She felt joy at the thought of Helena being able to recover. Helena could see those emotions upon her face. She took small strides closer, hoping to soon have the woman in her reach.

"But then…you died. You killed yourself to protect Pete and Artie and…me. And suddenly, I'm not worried about what I'm going to say or how I'm going to act. All that's going through my mind is that you died." There was no moment of transition between dry eyes and teary eyes. In that single thought the tears fell like her body was made of them. Not being able to stand the sight or the distance any longer, Helena finished the walk right to Myka and took her in her arms.

"You died! And I wanted to hate you so badly. I wanted you to disappear from my mind! I wanted you to never have existed!" She sobbed out. Helena's fingers petted her hair, trying to sooth the aching turmoil. She felt her own eyes stinging with loose tears at the pain she knew she'd caused Myka.

"But I can't hate you. I can't be mad at you because everything you do, good or bad, is always amazing. You're passionate about everything you do, and your heart is strong with its desires. You're everything that, inside, I'm afraid to be, and that makes me not hate you." Helena's heart soared with Myka's words. She could fix this now, and she knew it.

"Myka…I was upset. There was nothing left in the world for me. What I did before was horrible, and I will remind myself of it every day if that's what it takes. But in all the time I spent paying for my sins, and even as I stand here now, the greatest mistake I've ever made is hurting you. I was so lost in that darkness that I forgot you were standing right beside me." Helena moved them over so they could sit on the couch without danger of falling over. Myka clutched at Helena's crisp blue button down, still sobbing and trembling against the fabric. Helena ran gentle circles into Myka's back hoping she'd calm down.

"And you told that mad man that you forgive me. I can't see how you can or how I deserve it, but I'm grateful that you do. During my time out of the bronze sector, you're the only one who truly believed in me, even if I didn't give you much to go on. As for the explosion, I had to save you. I didn't care if it meant I had to die; you needed to live. I wasn't able to save my Christina, but I had a chance to save you. I wasn't giving it up." Myka pulled back to stare into the mocha orbs she'd burned into her memory for the rest of her life. Her tear stained face was trapped in the palms of the British author whose thumbs brushed away at the nearly offensive marks.

"And I can't be mad at you for it because I know you're intentions were good. I knew that you did what was in your heart, and I can never be mad at you for that. But I'm so scared. I'm so scared you're not real. I'm scared you'll die again. I'm scared the Regents will put you away again. There's so much I'm scared of that I don't know what to do with myself anymore. What scares me most though is how dependent on you I've become." Helena searched Myka's hazel eyes for any clues as to her true feelings. She wanted Myka to keep going. She wanted to know they were headed in the right direction.

"You control everything in my life; my emotions, my thoughts, how I act. And that terrifies me beyond anything else because if I never see you again I'll lose myself. So I need you to be here. I need you to be real." Helena smiled and pulled Myka close again, inhaling the sweetest scent of fruit and vanilla she'd ever smelled before.

"I'm here. I'm real. And I have news." Myka moved for a moment, burrowing her face deep into the crevice of Helena's smooth neck.

"I wanted you to be the first I told. The Regents have decided to let me stay with the warehouse. They believe my sacrifice proves that I've let go of the past." Myka jerked back at that, allowing her face to fill with a joy she'd never felt before. Helena could only bask in the beauty that shown in the woman's face.

"Oh my God, Helena!" She cried and tackled the Brit to fall back onto the sofa. Pulling herself up onto her elbows, the tears in Myka's eyes slowed to a stop as she peered down into the warm countenance of her Brit. Helena's lips fell slightly open, trying to force out the words she wanted to say.

"M-Myka…remember awhile back when I told you there was nothing left for me but the warehouse?" Helena's voice cracked at the question. Myka nodded.

"I lied."

"Wha…" Two delicate fingers silenced Myka's question.

"I have you." The tears reformed in the agent's eyes and Myka leaned down towards the smiling inventor. Not entirely sure on what was happening; Myka hesitated just an agonizing centimeter away from Helena. Did she want this? She couldn't hate Helena for anything. She needed the beautiful woman alive and well to keep going. This woman exposed strength in her she didn't even know she had. She was in love with Helena. She smiled softly at that.

"I love you." She whispered. Those three little words sent Helena over board, and she crushed her lips against Myka's in a searing kiss. It was gentle enough to show the love and care but still held neediness to it. Myka moaned at the cool contact. Helena slipped her tongue through distracted lips to find its counterpart. Tongues fought for dominance over the passion but Myka's pure need to be held and wanted by the woman below her forced her to ease down into a submissive tone. When air became a necessity, the two women pulled apart, eyes shut tight and savoring the moment. Their breaths intermingled due to their closeness, creating a curtain of humid heat between them. Helena's delicate hands stroked up Myka's sides and over her shoulders to the base of her cream colored neck.

"That was marvelous darling." Helena breathed. Myka leaned forward for just a small chaste kiss along swollen lips. She needed this woman and now. Jumping up from the sofa, Myka took hold of Helena's hand and dragged the Brit out the library towards the stairs.

"Hey Mykes, where are you going!" Both brunettes internally groaned at the disruption. Myka looked over the stair railing at Pete who stood in the den, controller in hand.

"Uh, I'm not feeling very well. I figured I should go lie down, and Helena said she'd watch me to make sure I'm okay." She clutched tight to Helena's hand, ready to take off up the stairs.

"Oh okay. I hope you feel better in the morning. I left the aspirin on the table in case you start hurting again." Myka nodded and moved up the stairs.

"I don't think I'll be feeling any type of pain tonight…" She muttered, silently hoping Helena had heard her. The low chuckle from behind answered her hope.

Myka pushed open her bedroom door, yanking Helena through the threshold. Sticking her head back out, she looked left and right to make sure she hadn't been followed and Leena was nowhere in sight. Satisfied, she quickly closed the door and locked it before turning back to Helena who'd moved to stand just inches behind her. In a moment of eye contact the two were against each other once more. Myka appreciated the feel of the cool wood door against her back to counteract the flaming heat igniting across her skin. She wove her fingers through the Brit's gorgeous black hair, clutching tightly for any type of stability. Helena's hands wandered across the hidden flesh of Myka's shirt clad back and waist. The younger agent moaned against the touch, parting her lips just a fraction of an inch once again allowing Helena to slip through her defenses. Myka could hear electricity cackling somewhere in the back of her mind. Helena pulled her body away from the wall, dragging Myka with her and never breaking lip contact. Her fingers grazed beneath the hem of Myka's shirt, aching to feel their skin finally touch. As the edge of the mattress pressed against the back of Myka's knees, she allowed it to guide her to lie flat on her back. Realizing the quick paced situation they'd found themselves in, Helena hesitated by pulling away from Myka's lips and resting her own just beside Myka's ear.

"Darling, are you positive this is what you want? We can stop if you're not ready." Myka eyes opened to stare up at the evening shadows dancing across her ceiling. Her chest heaved against Helena's with every erratic breath.

"I've spent months being in love with you and only realized it when it was too late. I've spent over two weeks regretting never telling you. I want you right now because the way my luck goes, this will be the only chance I have." Helena's eyes softened into a loving expression that Myka had only ever seen once before in a time when she didn't understand her own feelings.

"Myka…"

"Shut-up and kiss me." The lust and pure desire swirling in Myka's own eyes drew Helena back to her with hungry lips. The Brit's hands flew to the edges of Myka's t-shirt. With a definite yank, the shirt was removed from Myka's torso, tossed off on some unknown expanse of carpet. As her hands glided up the expanse of Myka's smooth back, she dropped her lips into the hallow of the younger woman's neck. Quick fingers found the thin bra gone from Myka's skin, leaving two soft mounds of warm flesh which she eagerly cradled in her hands. "Oh God…" Myka moaned, back arching into Helena's hands. Helena drew her teeth at Myka pulse point, nibbling on the flushed flesh. She trailed butterfly kisses down Myka throat and across her chest, taking a pert nipple between her lips. The sounds escaping Myka made Helena squirm with delight. Not want to take attention from the other, she rolled the unattended nipple between her fingers while she licked, nipped, and sucked at the other. Myka could feel herself slipping away, and Helena wasn't even where she wanted her to be yet.

"Helena…please…" Her voice cracked under the overwhelming feelings shooting across her skin. The Brit complied and with a single hand, brought Myka's sweatpants and underwear to the woman's ankles. Myka pushed off the last article of clothing, revealing herself in full to Helena. The author stared down at the tremulous form of her new love.

"You…my dear…are absolutely stunning. Never let anyone tell you different." With that she resumed her place upon Myka. As much as she'd love to worship every plain and curve of the marvelous body withering beneath her, she knew Myka was in no patient mind. They needed each other now. They'd have the rest of their lives to explore. Myka's hand caught her attention as she was pulled up into a desperate kiss. Nimble fingers worked the buttons of H.G.'s dress shirt but quickly became frustrated.

"Take it all off." The brunette whispered. Not wanting to disappoint, Helena retracted herself from Myka and removed her clothes in one fell swoop. Once she had sunk back down against Myka, both women let out breathless gasps at the final skin on skin contact. Helena didn't waver in descending further down Myka's silk smooth body with tiny kisses, licking and sucking where she felt would satisfy her love most. Finally, she found herself staring into the face of a treasure she'd never thought she'd see the likes of. She placed tender kisses along the insides of Myka's thighs, causing the woman's hips to buck and back to arch. Her moan reverberated across the walls back into Helena's ears with great pleasure. Myka's hands found themselves once again trapped in Helena's locks, urging her closer to her center. A fine finger brushed through the glistening folds sending Myka yelping in pleasure.

"Oh…please Helena…I-I can't…" Her words were lost on her tongue as Helena's engulfed her. Behind closed eyelids Myka could see bursting colors and dots of white light swirling around and mixing to make something better. A wandering hand, from the woman bringing her endless amounts of ecstasy, reached out and took hold of her pink nipple. Not sure of what to do with herself, Myka released one of her own hands to clutch Helena's free hand.

"I need you…inside…" She stuttered out. Helena chuckled against her slick center which vibrated straight through Myka from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. With painstaking slowness, Helena inserted a single digit through Myka's tight folds. The feeling was lost on both women.

"Oh shit!" Myka cried, tightening her grip of her lover's hand. Helena allowed her lips to take in the woman's clit as she added a second digit and glided them back and forth inside of her. Myka's voice, albeit broken, grew with every moan and cry of pleasure. Helena could already feel Myka closing around her fingers. She was very close. The hand caught in Helena's hair yanked the Brit over Myka for a deep kiss. The taste of herself on Helena's lips pushed her further towards the cliff. She found her legs wrap themselves around Helena's hips, heels digging into the poor woman's back as she continued to stroke her. They opened their eyes, cloudy hazel staring into lustful yet loving brown, silently understanding their need to see each other. Helena's fingers grazed over Myka's most sensitive spot which sent the woman over edge. Her back arched and head fell back in a voiceless cry. Helena stared on with adoration. Once Myka had fallen back down from cloud 9, Helena removed herself and collapsed beside Myka. The younger brunette stared longingly into the inventor's eyes.

"You're real." She whispered, a single tear escaping her lashes. Helena nodded with a smile and brushed the tear away.

"That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my 145 years of living." Helena admitted.

"I love you." Myka repeated her admission from earlier.

"I love you, too." Regaining mobility in her limbs, Myka rolled over Helena and captured her lips for the hundredth time that night. Helena could only smile at the thoughts of the things Myka could and would do to her.

Helena had been awake now for half an hour. The sun beat through the crevices in the slightly parted curtains to surround her and Myka in a halo of light. Dust bunnies danced in the Sun's arms, searching for a quiet resting place among the others. The Brit brunette stared down into the peacefully sleeping face of her lover who lay sprawled on her stomach, half on top of Helena. She was sure the slumbering woman could feel each heavy pound of her heart beating against her chest. Slow fingers traced soft circles against Myka's arm, feeling the muscles twitch beneath them. The halls of the bed and breakfast were still silent as its occupants remained sound asleep. Not a single person had stirred since Helena's awakening, and she took some comfort in that. It meant that she and Myka could relax in bed without any outside disturbances. As the minutes drew by, Helena's mind wandered back to her time since being de-bronzed.

It'd been a rather difficult time for her. She'd been encased in layers of cryogenic freezing and bronze, though willingly, and watched the world pass by. The turmoil and hatred that had filled her before had steadily grown into the rage and anguish she'd used to attempt to take down the world. It'd all made her feel so helpless. Then, Myka came along. She'd crossed through the bronze sector on more than one occasion. It seemed to be the only place she could go and no one else knew where she was hiding. At the time Helena hadn't understood the reason for it until after being de-bronzed and learning Pete was no above barging into the library to disturb Myka. The young brunette would take up a spot against the wall a little ways in front of Helena's motionless form. In the times Myka had sat in that spot, Helena learned a lot. She learned of Myka's love of literature, specifically H.G. Wells' literature. The Brit felt a tinge of joy press against the bitterness trying to consume her. Myka would make full use of the motionless figures, albeit being evil, as conversing buddies. She hadn't known at the time that those who had been bronzed still retained consciousness, so there hadn't been much of a filter of the words Myka spoke. As time wore on Helena had almost craved the arrival of the female agent, wanting to know more. All of a sudden, James came along and released her, which in turn churned the distress that'd nearly settle in her soul. She'd forced Myka to the back of her mind to carry forward with her mission. When Myka had placed her trust, and eventually life, in her hands, however, she couldn't bring herself to do it. All the memories of the two of them in the bronze sector washed over her, and she'd given in. The rest of her time spent separated from her body was the most tortuous in all her years. It left her with nothing to do but think of Myka and how much she'd (Helena) done to destroy everything between them.

She'd enjoyed aiding the agents in various missions to catch the bad guy, hoping that little by little she was redeeming herself. Sykes came after her searching for information and put Myka's life on the line twice. That was twice Helena wanted to do things to the man even worse than the things she'd done to the men who'd taken her dear Christina. One of those moments was by her involuntary hand. Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of what could've happened had Myka not forced her to calm done. The brunette would be lying amongst a pile of bones with a divided skull. The mere thought made her shudder, causing her partner to stir. Sacrificing her own life for Myka's was her last ditch effort to earn back the trust she'd shattered, and she'd never regret it.

"Helena?" Her eyes moved up the silky expanse of skin to star into brilliant hazel eyes. The love she felt in that stare sent her soaring through the stars.

"Good morning darling. Sleep well?" Helena asked softly, not stopping the gentle strokes across her lover's arm.

"To be honest…I didn't think you'd be here when I woke up."The Brit's eyes flashed an unsure emotion at Myka's confession. Her fingers halted and moved up to caress the agent's cheek.

"Why on Earth wouldn't I be here love?" Helena questioned with an ounce of hurt cracking through her voice.

"I figured you'd either still be dead or have left to go to your bedroom." She replied shyly.

"Now why would I leave the blissful warmth of your arms to settle for the cold, unused sheets of my bed? And I thought we rightfully established that I am no dream." Helena asked sarcastically. Myka shrugged.

"I like to double check my results before coming to a final conclusion." Helena smiled.

"Now you are thinking like a true scientist darling."

"And inventor. And writer." Myka countered.

"Yes, all of those as well." Helena chuckled, rolling onto her side to face Myka completely.

"I believe I'd like to confirm my results." Myka whispered before slowly taking Helena's lips upon her own. It wasn't a kiss formed out f desperation or neediness. They poured all their emotion into that single kiss. When they pulled back Helena pulled herself up to lean against the headboard with Myka snuggling deep into her love's bare chest. Arms wrapped tightly around Myka's shoulders and legs entangled gracefully, Helena sighed at the contact.

"What's going to happen now? You're back, but we let Sykes get away." Myka broke the silence with a lingering unsure whisper.

"Well I would imagine Artie would want us to catch him. After that only heaven knows. Although I do enjoy entertaining the idea of you receiving time off and spend it with me for a while." Myka laughed at the Brit's suggestion.

"That does sound lovely. Of course, as you said, Artie will want us to catch Sykes. I can't imagine where he's gone, and I really can't believe he would think you or I would know its location." Myka thought back to the museum in Istanbul where she'd sat on her knees desperately trying to argue that she knew nothing. So involved in her thoughts was Myka that she missed Helena's words.

"Myka?"

"Myka!" The brunette shuddered and looked up at Helena who had worry etched across her face.

"Are you alright?" The Brit asked, tightening her arms around Myka.

"Yes, yes, I was just thinking about what happened. I thought I was to die." She whispered the last part under her breath hoping Helena hadn't heard.

"I wouldn't have allowed that. As you can see, I didn't allow it."

"I know. Thank you." Myka smiled

"You're quite welcome dear." The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment, thoughts returning to the horrors that could've been.

"I do want to say something, however." Helena started. Myka looked into pooling brown eyes to silently urge her to continue.

"I did trust you, and still do, with all my secrets." She stated. Myka sighed and rested herself against Helena again.

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did. It was myself whom I did not trust. I was scared of what I'd end doing if you knew my secrets. My heart ached to reveal my secrets to you, but my head kept pushing you away. Now I will gladly tell you anything you wish to know. I'm no longer afraid of myself. I want you to know everything about me, and I wish to know everything about my beloved." Helena could feel Myka's lips spread into a wide grin against her pale skin. She began to run her finger through the young woman's now tamed mane, a stark contrast to the unruly , yet sexy, curls that had once claimed her head. Suddenly, Myka's figure tensed in her arms.

"Myka?" Helena called worriedly. She turned to better see her partner and found focused eyes and creased brows lost from society. Helena identified Myka's stare as her 'deep in thought' stare. She wore when she was sifting through information to form conclusions during assignments. It was rather endearing.

Myka said nothing as she threw the covers from her body and raced into the bathroom. Helena sat and stared at the now closed door in utter confusion. She listened as the shower ran and hit against Myka's skin. Fifth-teen minutes later Myka reemerged, hair still perfectly dry and a thick white towel wrapped around her body. A spark of arousal flew through the Brit; however, she understood Myka had entered a mode that was in no mood for games or journeys of physical exploration. Myka quickly replaced her towel with clean undergarments before sliding into a pair of dark blue straight legged jeans, a black t-shirt, and her sneakers. Before Helena could really say anything Myka pulled her in for a quick kiss before shooting out the door.

"What in bloody Hell…" was all she could get out.


End file.
